Addressing the “Broken” System of Child Welfare

Three claims in Jessica Pryce’s Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services inform this article. These are (a) the system of surveillance and punishment of the poor, especially Indigenous and families of color, must be replaced with support to families, (b) casework practice is transactional and performative, and (c) neglect should not be conflated with poverty. We review briefly the history of CAPTA and ICWA arguing that ICWA’s “active efforts” should replace “reasonable efforts” in all child welfare cases. This includes the integration of economic and concrete resources with behavioral health services. Further warranted is the expansion of Family Resource Centers, 211 systems, attorneys for parents, parent partners, and guardian ad litem. Implications for casework practice include more relational than performative approaches to parents. Our recommendations seek to inform a system of family support and child well-being.