Children with parental rights termination may wait years to be adopted, and some never will be. She lived in a modest mobile home, the condition of which was a factor in the investigation. E/1992/23 (1991), https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/47a7079a1.pdf (accessed October 29, 2022), para. I sent my kids to school in their Halloween costumes. The number of children removed from their families, the too-often unjust circumstances of removal, and the disproportionate effects on Black and Indigenous families, and those living in poverty, make this a national family separation crisis warranting immediate attention and action. These are just some of the very difficult decisions facing the child welfare system almost every day. Despite the often-profound consequences of child welfare involvementincluding family separation, termination of parental rights, and in some cases criminal chargesparents have fewer due process protections in child welfare cases than individuals facing similarly serious consequences in the criminal legal system. Incarcerated parents rarely receive support to help them advocate for leniency to keep the family together. The doctors asked me questions, and I told them everything. 21-380, December 2021, https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-380/204565/20211208222853938_No.%2021-380%20Brackeen%20v.%20Halaand%20Final.pdf (accessed October 14, 2022), p. 11. To protect the privacy and security of interviewees, a substantial number of whom had an ongoing case and expressed considerable fear of retaliation, we have chosen to use pseudonyms in all cases. Julia lost her housing during the crisis and moved in with a friend. Parents told us that their children were their reason to live, and once taken from them, some resorted to harmful drug use. [334] Right to Counsel: California, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, n.d., http://civilrighttocounsel.org/major_developments/180 (accessed October 27, 2022). Spending on this program has declined by at least 40% since its establishment in 1996, and the benefits range widely from state to state. Another law Congress passed in 2011 emphasized family reunification services, including peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups for parents. If a social worker doesnt know what its like to be poor and doesnt know what its like to make the compromises poor people have to make, they may describe a messy or cluttered house as deplorable or filthy, increasing the likelihood that the child will be removed.[229]. (New York) Child welfare systems in the United States too often treat poverty as the basis for charges of neglect and decisions to remove children from their parents, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a report released today. [387], Raquel Rolnik, UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, expressed her deep concern about the millions of people living in the United States today who face serious challenges in accessing affordable and adequate housing, issues long faced by the poorest people and today affecting a greater proportion of society, in part due to federal funding for low-income housing [which] has been cut over the past decades, leading to a reduced stock and quality of subsidized housing.[388], The ICESCR provides that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.[389] The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which monitors state compliance with the covenant, has stated that, The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, [and] work[. Among children in care for two years or longer in 2020, 59% experienced three or more placements. Black children make up just 13 percent of the US child population but 24 percent of child abuse or neglect reports and 21 percent of children entering the foster system. My oldest daughter experienced all of it, and she has difficulty trusting people. US: Child Welfare System Harms Families. Nationwide, about 7 percent of reports in 2019 were anonymous, but in Mississippi and New Mexico, anonymous sources accounted for over 30 percent of reports. [112] Child Welfare Information Gateway, How the Child Welfare System Works, 2020, https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/cpswork/ (accessed October 26, 2022). [213] Survey responses to online survey, for more information see Methodology section. In explaining what progressive realization entails, the committee has said: a minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of each of the rights is incumbent upon every State party. In another state, Indigenous children were 13 times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be placed in the foster system. [109] Stephen Pevar, In South Dakota, Officials Defied a Federal Judge and Took Indian Kids Away From Their Parents in Rigged Proceedings, post to ACLU News & Commentary (blog), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), February 22, 2017, https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/south-dakota-officials-defied-federal-judge-and-took (accessed October 26, 2022). [340] California Penal Code, 11170(a)(1) (The index shall not contain any reports that are determined not to be substantiated), (a)(3) (Only information from reports that are reported as substantiated shall be filed pursuant to paragraph (1), and all other determinations shall be removed from the central list.). For centuries, Indigenous[85a] families and communities have endured egregious abuse and harm through child welfare interventions. An estimated 17 percent of children in the United States lived in poverty in February 2022, according to Columbia University researchers. [371] Aziz Z. Huq, What is Discriminatory Intent? Cornell Law Review, vol. [274] Movement for Family Power, Whatever They Do, Im Her Comfort, Im Her Protector: How the Foster System Has Become Ground Zero for The U.S. Drug War, pp. [21] In addition, these societies excluded Black families and targeted Indigenous families.[22]. Being Black is not an inherent risk factor for child abuse and neglect yet Black children are almost twice as likely to be victims of substantiated abuse and neglect claims compared to other racial groups. Table 17. Parents facing these grave outcomes need reliable information and consistent legal support. The child welfare system in the United States disproportionately investigates and removes children from over-policed, underserved communities, especially Black and Indigenous children and those living in poverty. In the United States, child welfare reform efforts have dominated three decades of landscape. The parents we interviewed described how their lack of access to reliable information, services, or support was interpreted as parental unfitness. The family lived together in a modest mobile home without running water, but bought and stored water in large containers. [12] Nick Estes, The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children to open the West, High Country News, October 14, 2019, https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.17/indigenous-affairs-the-us-stole-generations-of-indigenous-children-to-open-the-west (accessed October 21, 2022); Terry L. Cross, Child Welfare in Indian Country: A Story of Painful Removals, Health Affairs, vol. [49] The stages of child welfare involvement are explained in detail in Section IV of this report. Racial disparities in the US child welfare system, along with the prerequisites for reunification and impact to children and families, exacerbate socioeconomic and racial inequities. A decision is expected by June 2023. So they just painted a picture of their own. How the So-Called "Child Welfare System" Hurts Families See Nina Martin, How Some Alabama Hospitals Quietly Drug Test New Mothers Without Their Consent, ProPublica, September 30, 2015, https://www.propublica.org/article/how-some-alabama-hospitals-drug-test-new-mothers-without-their-consent (accessed October 27, 2022); Anna Claire Vollers, New moms in Alabama face suspicion over error-prone drug screens, Birmingham News, February 9, 2020, https://www.al.com/news/2020/02/new-moms-in-alabama-face-suspicion-over-error-prone-drug-screens.html (accessed October 27, 2022). See, AFCARS, Data Elements and Definitions, Foster Care Specific Elements, Placements, Childrens Bureau, n.d., www.acf.hhs.gov/cwpm/public_html/programs/cb/laws_policies/laws/cwpm/policy_dsp.jsp?citID=150 (accessed October 27, 2022). 12/2000/4 (2000), https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4538838d0.pdf (accessed October 28, 2022), para. John Allen, a father and social worker from California, was charged with failure to protect when his daughter reported to a teacher that her older brother was sexually abusing her. [27] As a result, the foster system population ballooned, compelling federal and state governments to take responsibility for the safety and well-being of children and families in a meaningful way.[28]. in order to get Max back. Data analysis conducted for this report shows a correlation between poverty and the rate of maltreatment investigations: counties with higher numbers of families below the poverty line have a higher rate of maltreatment investigations, and counties with higher family incomes have lower rates of investigations. If these same benefits were offered to the families separated by the child welfare system, it could have a similarly positive effect. [315] In lieu of receiving a stable and nurturing environment to address their emotional needs, youth reported that they were more likely to be medicated instead. At least we would get a jury trial.. In this report, the word child refers to anyone under the age of 18, consistent with the use of this term in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.[7]. [40] Myers, A Short History of Child Protection in America, pp. Consider poverty-related barriers to accessing services for parents and its effect on child welfare reunification plan compliance prior to every child welfare decision. [133] Human Rights Watch interview with Adaline Stephens, parent with lived experience, California, October 14, 2021. If you believe a child is in immediate danger of harm, call 911 first. Child Welfare System Harms Families: US Human Rights Watch Child welfare systems in the United States too often treat poverty as the basis for charges of neglect and decisions to remove children from their parents, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a report released today. That was also the case before this brief expansion, because of the way it was originally structured. I just remember collapsing to my knees and not wanting to leave the office, and then security was trying to call the police as they dragged me out by my arms, Hannah said. 14; US Const. [123] There is a particular risk that anonymous reporting can be maliciously employed by perpetrators of domestic violence or others as a form of retaliation for grievances, overburdening an unregulated hotline system. We use the terminology Black in reference to individuals of African descent or those who identify as such. In cases of hidden foster care, which is beyond the scope of this report, no court is ever involved, and the caseworker may be the one who makes decision. Harms of the US Child Welfare System on Black families : Adoption - Reddit [65] Childrens Bureau, Tables 3-9 Maltreatment Types of Victims 2019 (Categories) in Child Maltreatment 2019, p. 47. In some cases, we have also withheld certain other identifying information. Maya was facing challenges connecting via video and was instructed to join via phone call. [65] Just under 18 percent involved physical abuse, and around 9 percent involved sexual abuse. The child welfare systems purpose is often described as promoting the well-being of children and strengthening families to support childrens development. Depending on the variable analyzed, there can be wide variation in the completeness of data. [336] Civil rights attorney Wallace Pate said that in California: Every year, more than 600,000 allegations of child maltreatment are substantiated by child welfare officials, many without judicial oversight. Her children, including her infant son, were removed from her care, separated from each other, and placed in foster homes. [279] Parents with a history of substance use told us they were subjected to random drug tests more frequently than parents without such history, causing unplanned disruptions that made it difficult for them to maintain employment, as those who were selected to drug test were often notified the same day and required to travel to designated testing sites within a few hours. [42] Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, U.S.C., Chapter 42, 1305; Myers, A Short History of Child Protection in America, pp. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Black children are overrepresented in the child welfare system when compared with their percentage in the total population. November 16, 2022 Dispatches Afghan Child Custody Case Exposes US Wartime Abuses. As new laws are enacted over the next 50 years, they should aim to realize Milner's dream of "child welfare in the United States as a system that strengthens families and breaks harmful cycles of trauma and family disruption, rather than waiting until children are hurt to respond" (The Opioid Crisis 2018, p. 1) and take it one step further. [81] Legal discrimination has been further aggravated by disparate surveillance, punitive interventions, and incarceration of Black families, resulting in increased economic and social fragility. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and New York City Administration for Childrens Services responded in writing, and their responses are included in full in the appendix. 331, entered into force January 27, 1980, art. In West Virginia they represent over 7 percent of foster system entries but only 4 percent of children in the state. TOS: Single mothers are held responsible for neglect more often than two-parent households. [92], Indian boarding schools were not simply places where Indigenous youth were stripped of their cultural identities; the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report has found over 50 marked and unmarked graves on these school sites so far in its investigation[93] and notes that some 19 boarding schools accounted for over 500 recorded student deaths. Black children are almost twice as likely to experience investigations as white children and more likely to be separated from their families. She was straining to hear when she realized the judge had just terminated her parental rights: Distraught, Maya told us that she asked about her options and whether she could appeal. [311] In some states, including California, New York, and West Virginia, agencies retain custody of young adults up to the age of 21. 12 (2014): accessed October 21, 2022, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1158. [177] Each of the four states examined in this report permit emergency removals when there is an imminent danger or imminent safety threat to a child.[178]. She was removed from her own parents care as a child and grew up in the foster system. [81] Liz Mineo, Racial Wealth Gap May Be a Key to Other Inequities, The Harvard Gazette, June 3, 2021, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/06/racial-wealth-gap-may-be-a-key-to-other-inequities/ (accessed October 26, 2022); Bradley L. Hardy, Trevon D. Logan, and John Parman, The Historical Role of Race and Policy for Regional Inequality, The Hamilton Project, September 28, 2018, https://www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/PBP_HardyLoganParman_1009.pdf (accessed October 26, 2022). We use the term reunification to describe situations when a child is reunited with their family of origin. Today is not our color though, mine is pink and Adrians is red. While working as a parent advocate in New York, Evelyn Perez told Human Rights Watch: Some parents struggled to cover transportation or other costs associated with their mandated service plans. 82, no. [182], If a child becomes a ward of the state, the state or county responsible for removing them must find them a suitable placement within the foster system. The doctors asked me questions, and I told them everything. She was shocked to learn they reported her to child protective services for suspected abuse, triggering a cascade of interventions that she said deeply harmed her children and damaged their relationship. Caseworkers in many states are overburdened and struggle to manage their caseloads, and they refer parents to equally overburdened service providers, where parents sometimes wait weeks or even months for services. [340] However, that was not the experience of Hannah Garcia, a mother from California and an advocate for families impacted by the child welfare system. It also sought to reduce the number of children in the foster system in group homes and other congregate care facilities by limiting funds for those placements. US constitutional law requires a finding of discriminatory intent before courts will rule unconstitutional discriminatory practices that disproportionately burden a racial group. Are you gonna have a good day? [167] Stephanie Kramer, U.S. [36] Richard Wexler, Take the Child and Run: Tales From The Age of ASFA, post to Kidjacked (blog), 2001, https://kidjacked.com/media/take_the_child_and_run.asp#43 (accessed October 24, 2022), citing Leroy Pelton, For Reason Of Poverty: A Critical Analysis Of The Public Child Welfare System In The United States (New York: Praeger, 1989), p. 6. 174, no. [387] The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN body that is the authoritative interpreter of the covenant, has elaborated the article 2 requirement that states parties take steps to the maximum of its available resources with a view toward achieving progressively the covenant's rights. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union would like to thank: A Better Childhood; Allison Green, National Association of Counsel for Children; Amanda Wallace and Tafarrah Austin, Operation Stop CPS; Andi Mazingo, A New Way of Life Reentry Project; Angela Olivia Burton, New York State Office of Court Administration, Office for Justice Initiatives; Bobbie Butts, Starting Over, Inc.; Bronx Defenders; Brooklyn Defenders; Center for Family Representation; Chris Gottlieb, New York University Law; Chris Martin, civil rights and former parents attorney; Erin Miles Cloud and Lisa Sangoi, Movement for Family Power; Gabrielle Jacobi, Oklahoma Policy Institute; Irene Clements, National Foster Parent Association; J. Khadijah Abdurahman; Jeanetta Vega and Tracy Serdjenian, Rise; Jesse Aguiar, Journey House; Joshua Michtom, Office of the Chief Public Defender, Juvenile/Child Protection Unit; Joyce McMillan and Jasmine Wali, Just Making a Change For Families (JMACforFamilies); Kelley Fong; Lenore Skenazy, Let Grow; Loren Siegel, Drug Policy Alliance, consultant; Michele Nieri Richards, Alexandria House; Michelle Chan, California Families Rise; Nora McCarthy, NYC Family Policy Project; Richard Wexler, National Coalition for Child Protection Reform; Sabrina Forte, Alliance for Childrens Rights; Samantha Lee, National Advocates for Pregnant Women; Shanta Trivedi; Shereen White, Childrens Rights; and Sixto Cancel, Think of Us.
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