Mother’s Outreach Network to Host Mother Up National Convening in Baltimore, with Keynote by Professor Dorothy Roberts

Gathering with University of Baltimore School of Law will share lessons from first known guaranteed income pilot studying cash, child welfare system involvement

BALTIMORE, MD, UNITED STATES, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Mother’s Outreach Network will host the Mother Up National Convening on November 6 in Baltimore, in partnership with the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts. The convening will bring together researchers, lawyers, funders, and mothers advocating for change around a shared goal: transforming family policing into systems of care that keep families together.

Professor Dorothy Roberts, the scholar whose work has defined the legal and constitutional critique of family policing, will deliver the keynote address. The term “family policing” reflects a growing analysis among scholars, advocates and directly impacted parents. Too often, the system commonly called “child welfare” functions not as a source of support but as a system of surveillance and punishment, especially for Black and low-income families. Roberts’ appearance at the Mother Up Convening offers attendees a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the most influential voices on how child welfare systems affect families, particularly Black families and families living in poverty.

At the center of the convening is the Mother Up Pilot, the first known guaranteed income research pilot to study how direct cash can limit families’ involvement with the child welfare system. Independent research on Mother Up is being conducted by the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School.

The convening will present the Mother Up Pilot’s methodology as a model that other communities, researchers, and funders can adopt, adapt, and help spread. It also marks the launch of the national Family Justice and Cash Working Group, which will carry the work forward beyond the event itself, and beyond the D.C./Baltimore areas.

“Poverty is not neglect, yet too many mothers have their children ripped away from them because they can’t cover rent, food, or child care,” said Melody Webb, executive director of Mother’s Outreach Network. “The Mother Up Pilot asks what happens when we give mothers money instead of a case file. This convening shares what we’re learning and launches a national effort to keep families whole.”

A full agenda will be released in the coming weeks. Registration is now open; space is limited.

Event Details:
What: Mother Up National Convening
When: Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, followed by an evening reception
Where: University of Baltimore School of Law, 1401 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Keynote: Professor Dorothy Roberts
Who should attend: Researchers, lawyers, advocates, funders, policymakers, and mothers with lived experience advocating for change
Register: bit.ly/MotherUpConvening

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About Mother’s Outreach Network
Mothers Outreach Network (MON) is a Washington, DC, legal and policy organization that engages with mothers to keep families together. Grounded in the principle that poverty is not neglect, MON works so mothers, disproportionately Black, have the income, legal protection, and power to keep their children at home. MON leads Mother Up, the first known guaranteed income research pilot for families in the child welfare system, with the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, and founded the DC Guaranteed Income Coalition. Its work also includes drafting Washington, DC's local child tax credit legislation and successful advocacy for benefits cliff protections. Learn more at mothersoutreachnetwork.org.

Melody Webb
Mother's Outreach Network
+1 202-276-9253
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