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Op-Ed
Missing Boy Jacob Pritchett Is a Reminder of Why We Can’t Leave Disabled Kids with Ill-Equipped Parents
It has been a year since anyone saw Jacob Pritchett. The 11-year-old boy, who is autistic and nonverbal, was reported missing in October. But, as far as anyone can tell, he was…
Op-Ed
The dangerous myth that poverty is the cause of child abuse
Why does child abuse happen? A new public service announcement says most people think it’s a “bad parent problem,” but the ad suggests “the root causes may be different than you think.”…
Op-Ed
Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Dangerous Radicalism on Child Welfare
Socialist state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has made a splash in the race for New York City mayor. A relentless social media campaign has helped him raise big dollars, despite his long-shot odds against incumbent…
Op-Ed
Did Maltreatment Fatalities in Texas Really Decline?
A drop in the number of children entering foster care and fatalities due to abuse in Texas is, on its face, welcome news, and some stakeholders in the well-being of…
Op-Ed
This Child Welfare Rule Puts Social Justice Over Safety
“The hope and intention is that we’re creating some equity around how we’re supporting family members caring for children that are in foster care.” That’s how Rebecca Jones Gaston, commissioner for…
Op-Ed
Why the Riskiest Situation NYC Foster Kids Can Face Is Visiting Their Birth Parents
Between 2020 and 2023, there were 2,154 cases of substantiated abuse and/or neglect of foster children in New York City. When New Yorkers read that statistic — taken from a recent…
Op-Ed
Another Terrible Idea: Abolishing Child Welfare
The only thing surprising about Dorothy Roberts winning a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” earlier this month is that it took the organization so long to do it. Roberts, a law…
Op-Ed
Justice at Any Cost?
“Almost 9,000 children in California foster care could soon be taken from homes over insurance crisis,” reads one among a dozen similar headlines that have appeared in West Coast media…
Op-Ed
Why Is Race Still a Factor in Adoption?
“I know you really want to be parents, and I can tell that you would love and dote on the child,” Angela Tucker, a consultant for an adoption agency, told…
Op-Ed
Poverty Isn’t Neglect, and Money Isn’t Always the Answer
“I think about the families separated in Missouri over the years, not because of abuse or neglect, but because they could not afford to pay a bill or new clothes…
Op-ed
Fostering Normalcy for Foster Kids
When my daughter was 16 and was offered a job as a lifeguard, her boss told her she’d need to have her own bank account in order to be paid….
Op-Ed
Reducing Racial Disparities in Foster Care Might Endanger Black Children
To what lengths should we go to reduce racial disparities in the child welfare system? In 2021 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to require the Department of…