In a previous round-up, I noted the lead story in the latest
issue of the Administration for Children and Families publication Children’s Bureau Express. It’s called “It’s
Time to Stop Confusing Poverty With Neglect.” That column is excellent – but there’s more. The
entire issue is devoted to this theme.
Among the other excellent stories:
● I’ve
written before about child welfare’s “creation myth” – how the story of
Mary Ellen Wilson, a little girl abused in the 1870s, supposedly proved the
need for untrammeled state intervention into families. In fact, Mary Ellen was a foster child. And now, Katie Albright, who runs a family
support center in San Francisco, adds another key fact: Mary Ellen was taken from her mother in the
first place when
her mother’s poverty was confused with neglect.
● Jeremy Kohomban and his colleagues at The Children’s
Village write about how what was once one of the most regressive, hidebound “residential
treatment centers” (and a media darling, especially beloved by author Anna
Quindlan) has
had a reckoning. They acknowledge that their previous approach was rooted
in racial and class bias, and they’ve transformed into a place that emphasizes
serving families in their own communities.
● And Jey Rajaraman, chief counsel for Legal Services of New
Jersey, writes about “How
to Help Agencies Stop Confusing Poverty With Neglect.” Lesson 1: Focus on
housing.
In other news:
● I
have a column in Youth Today
about who’s trying to push to the front of the line to exploit the Family First
Act to “leverage” more money for themselves. Hint: It’s not families.
● In Canada, where the child welfare system is depressingly
similar to ours, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has a story about a social worker who made it
her mission to defend families whose children were taken needlessly – and what
happened to her. (It’s what you think.)
● And there is sad news from Connecticut, where a
federal court ruling may effectively give the state free reign to tear
children from parents whose alleged mental illness is said to indicate they may
abuse or neglect their children in the future.
