We declare June 2026 the second annual
Stolen Children’s Month.
THE CAMPAIGN
Stolen Children’s Month is a narrative campaign that builds political will to end state kidnapping of children and cultivates communities of care for impacted families to heal and repair.
This month honors children stolen by:
-
Family Policing and Foster "Care"
-
The ICE Machine
-
Youth Incarceration
-
Private Adoption Industries
-
Forced Treatment Facilities
OUR VISION
Stolen Children’s Month calls for the abolition of all systems that steal children and separate families.
We envision a world where children remain rooted in the love, care, and cultures of their families and communities; and where families harmed by state violence have access to the material and relational resources needed to heal and repair.
Take Action
-
Sign the Proclamation
Sign on to declare June as Stolen Children’s Month.
-
Host a Vigil in Your City
Honor Stolen Children by hosting a local or virtual vigil.
-
Join Huddle Up Peer Support Space
Join virtual gatherings for parents with open family policing cases.
-
Attend Core Events
Tap in to the rallies, webinars, and gatherings happening in June.
-
Spread the Word
Use our social media toolkit to amplify the movement online.
-
Support Our Work
Support local organizing and provide stipends for impacted people.
Event Calendar
-

June 1
Stolen Children’s Month Kickoff: Rally & Community Vigil (Virtual)
11AM PT | 2PM ET
Hosted by Stolen Children’s Month Steering Committee
-

June 2
Instagram Live: When They Stole Me (Pt. 1)
3PM PT | 6PM ET
Mining for Gold, Parents Supporting Parents NY, Adoptees Crossing Lines
-

June 9
Instagram Live: When They Stole Me (Pt. 2)
3PM PT | 6PM ET
Mining for Gold, Parents Supporting Parents NY, Adoptees Crossing Lines
-

June 12
Our History & Purpose: From Black Mothers March to Stolen Children's Month (Virtual)
12PM PT | 3PM ET
Black Mothers March & Stolen Children’s Month Steering Committee
-

June 16
Zine Workshop: When They Stole Me (Virtual)
3:30PM PT | 6:30PM ET
Mining for Gold, Parents Supporting Parents NY, Adoptees Crossing Lines
-

June 20
Stolen Children’s Month Block Party (New York City, NY)
1-8PM ET
Parents Supporting Parents NY
-

June 20
Our Zip Codes, Our Children, Our Future (Philadelphia, PA).
Philly Voice for Change
-

June 22
How to Use Stolen Children’s Month Proclamations as a Local Organizing Tool (Virtual)
12PM PT | 3PM ET
Stolen Children’s Month Steering Committee
-

June 25
Vigils to Honor Stolen Children: Host a Vigil in Your City!
Stolen Children’s Month Steering Committee
-

June 23
Zine Workshop: When They Stole Me (Virtual)
3:30PM PT | 6:30PM ET
Mining for Gold, Parents Supporting Parents NY, Adoptees Crossing Lines
Vigils to Honor Stolen Children
Communities in these cities & regions will host vigils to honor stolen children on or around June 25, 2026.
Altadena, California
Bay Area, California
Bogotá, Colombia
Boston, Massachusetts
Bozeman, Montana
Cali, Colombia
Charleston, SC
Chicago, Illinois
Detroit, Michigan
Durham, North Carolina
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Kansas City, Missouri
Knoxville, Tennessee
London, United Kingdom
Los Angeles, California
Missoula, Montana
Moorhead, Minnesota
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Oregon
Sandstone, Minnesota
St. Louis, Missouri
Seattle, Washington
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Want to bring a vigil to your city? Register below!
Bogota, Colombia
Charlottesville, VA
Detroit, MI
Durham, NC
London, England
Nashville, TN
Philadelphia, PA
San Fransisco, CA
Seattle, WA
WHAT WE DO
We build narrative power through collective healing, storytelling, and local organizing. Every June, during Stolen Children’s Month, impacted leaders across the globe gather to organize vigils for stolen children, letter writing gatherings, storytelling projects, and healing circles.
SPONSOR OR DONATE
Support Our Work
Stolen Children’s Month has run on people-power since day one—with little to no budget to support our leaders and organizing. Your support will change that, funding initiatives like:
Stipends for directly impacted leaders,
Huddle Up healing circles for parents navigating family policing cases, or
Support for organizers honoring stolen children through local vigils.
OUR HISTORY
Our organizing and advocacy emerges from the fight against family separation at the hands of the family policing (“child welfare”) system and the multi-billion dollar adoption industry. But we know our struggles are bound together with children who have been stolen from family by myriad institutions throughout history.
From orphan trains, to chattel slavery, to the genocide of Indigenous people, family separation has long been wielded as a weapon to control, punish, and disappear Black, immigrant, and Indigenous children. This violent history continues today, as millions of children are stolen from their families by the family policing, adoption, youth incarceration, and ICE detention and deportation systems.
For generations, the stories of stolen children have been erased from dominant narratives. The United States systematically and willfully ignores the life-long trauma of children torn from their homes and the deep, unhealed grief of parents forced to live without their children. Meanwhile, the very systems that tear our families apart are celebrated. Each year, the United States celebrates holidays like National Adoption Month which romanticize, whitewash, and normalize the destruction of families.
We, stolen children and our families, must reclaim our narrative.
WHO WE ARE
Ashley Albert, Founder of Stolen Children’s Month
Ashley De Anna Albert is a visionary mother, abolitionist, and founder of Stolen Children’s Month. Through Stolen Children’s Month, Ashley seeks to reclaim what has been stolen from us: our children, our joy, our lineage, and our rights to raise our babies in peace.
Ashley’s story is one of survival, power, and reclamation. When she was just six months old, Ashley’s father was stolen from her, a loss which profoundly shaped her childhood. As a child, Ashley was impacted by the foster system, youth incarceration, mental health struggles, and domestic violence. The harms of family separation followed Ashley into adulthood, when she was forced to endure incarceration and the foster system as a parent. She has since fought tirelessly to be reunified with her children. This is why Ashley holds close the stories of every child and parent who’s been erased, misunderstood, or discarded.
Through her lived experience, Ashley has emerged as a fierce movement leader, advocate, and organizer. Ashley is the Founder of Ascending Healing and Justice, a transformative justice practice grounded in truth-telling and advocacy, and a Storyteller in Residence with Movement for Family Power. Her work centers abolition, reproductive justice, and deep spiritual healing. She is also a national speaker, curriculum developer, and trainer—guiding systems-impacted communities toward liberation.
Ashley carries the memory of her sister, Angel, who passed too soon, but whose love and light continue to guide her purpose. Every day, Ashley leads with love, rage, and a fierce commitment to memory. Her life’s work is a refusal to be forgotten—and a promise that no one else will be either.
Steering Committee
-

Amanda Wallace
Founder, Operation Stop CPS
-

Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sánchez
Co-Founder, We Are Holding This; Founding Member, Reproductive Justice in Adoption (RJiA); Member, Reimagine Child Safety Bay Area and Beyond (RCSBAB); Member, Adopted, Fostered, Trafficked Abolitionists (AFTA)
-

jasmine Sankofa
Executive Director, Movement for Family Power
-

Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey
CEO + Principal Attorney, K.Adeniyi Law
-

Sarah Duggan
Manager of Communications, Movement for Family Power
-

Sydnie Mares
Communications Manager, upEND Movement
-

Tanesha Grant
Executive Director, Parents Supporting Parents NY
-

Tina Rios
Indigenous Mother with lived experience in DV and Family Policing; Lived Expert and Community Consultant, Los Angeles and California; Core Leader, Reimagine Child Safety Coalition - Los Angeles; CEO, A Child’s Dream Altadena
-

Tamara Robertson
Healer-in-Residence, Movement for Family Power
-

Zaira Campos
Founder, Adoptees Crossing Lines; Founder, Liberated Media Hub