Last week, Matthew Fraidin, Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, wrote an essay titled, Changing the Narrative of Child Welfare for the Huffington Post. In the article, Fraidin critiques the current system that harms more than helps children by unnecessarily removing many of them from their parents’ homes because of factors related to poverty, not abuse.
Fraidin writes, “…more than 70% of the children in foster care are there because of allegations that they were neglected, not abused. And neglect — lack of food, clothing, shelter, supervision, or other necessities of life — is poverty by another name.”
Rather than punishing parents because of their poverty, Fraidin suggests improving anti-poverty programs, encourage clients to advocate for themselves and to look for ways to build on families strengths instead of focusing only on their problems.
Read the article and let us know your thoughts!