10/02/2026
Impacted organizers & parents made history this week by halting one of the country’s harshest family separation policies.
This landmark achievement disrupts the cycle of family separation & intergenerational trauma. AB 1201 ends ‘automatic bypass’, giving parents with past unrelated felony convictions genuine opportunities to reunify with their children. As a result, more more justice-impacted families will have the opportunity to stay together, and more children will experience improved adult outcomes as they grow up with family, not in the system.
This bill was born out of deep love and commitment to our children and families, who deserve to heal, thrive, and grow together. We envision a future divested from systems of punishment and separation, that ensures families are restored and have the resources they need.
We congratulate the organizers, advocates, and partners who made this victory possible, especially our amazing organizers Amethyst, Tineace, and dedicate this win to every family that has endured the pain and grief of carceral family policies.
Our thanks to our legislative co-sponsors: Family Reunification, Equity & Empowerment (FREE) Project, Riverside All Of Us or None (AOUON), A New Way of Life (ANWOL), Families Inspiring Reentry & Reunification 4 Everyone (FIR4E), the Solis Policy Institute Trauma Service Prevention Team, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, the National Association of Council of Children, and Women’s Foundation California; as well as over 20 statewide community partners including Participatory Defense of the Inland Empire (PDIE), Riverside County Democratic Party (RCDP), Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC), Can’t Can’t, The Rubicon Foundation, the California Black Power Network (CBPN), Time for Change Foundation, Community Defenders, Watts All Stars, and many others.
