The U.S. child welfare system is facing a crisis of family separation, disproportionately affecting low-income, Black, and Indigenous families. As the system claims to protect children, it often does more harm than good by unnecessarily separating children from their families. This issue is especially prevalent in cases of neglect, where poverty and substance use are conflated with unfit parenting, leaving families broken and traumatized. In this article, we examine the underlying causes of this crisis, its devastating effects, and the urgent need for reform.
Far too often, poverty is treated as a sign of unfitness to parent, rather than a call for support. The child welfare system frequently removes children from parents living in poverty, not because of abuse or intentional neglect, but because of inadequate housing, food insecurity, or lack of medical care—conditions closely tied to financial hardship. The system is designed to punish parents for these circumstances instead of offering them the assistance they need to care for their children.
For example, the case of Adaline Stephens, a Black mother from California, highlights the extent of this issue. After her son injured his hip in an accident at home, doctors reported her to child protective services (CPS), initiating a chain of events that led to her six children being removed from her care. The primary reason for the removal was not evidence of abuse, but rather the state of her home, compounded by her use of medical marijuana prescribed for a chronic illness. Her children remain separated, with some experiencing abuse in foster care.
The family separation crisis is not evenly distributed across all racial and ethnic groups. Black children are almost twice as likely to be investigated by child welfare services than white children, and Indigenous families face similar disparities. As a result, these communities are overrepresented in the foster system. Instead of addressing systemic inequalities, the child welfare system often amplifies them.
While the stated goal of the system is to protect children, racial and economic biases frequently shape its interventions. Children from marginalized communities are more likely to be removed from their families due to circumstances tied to poverty, and this often leads to long-term emotional and psychological harm.
The statistics paint a grim picture: one in three children in the U.S. will be the subject of a child welfare investigation before turning 18. Every three minutes, a child is removed from their home and placed into the foster care system. This amounts to more than 200,000 children entering the foster system each year. The effects of these separations can be profound, leaving both children and parents emotionally scarred, and often resulting in lasting mental health problems for the children involved.
The investigation process itself is often invasive and traumatizing for both children and parents. It involves unannounced visits, body checks, and interrogations that leave families feeling humiliated and powerless. Investigations can occur based on anonymous reports, which may be filed with insufficient information or even out of malice. Once a family is under investigation, it is difficult for them to regain their sense of normalcy, regardless of whether the allegations are substantiated.
Parents living in poverty are at higher risk of being investigated because they rely more heavily on public services, such as healthcare or social support programs, where mandated reporters are more likely to come into contact with them. This leads to a cycle of scrutiny and punishment for families who are already struggling to make ends meet.
The child welfare system also conflates substance use with parental unfitness, often without considering the individual’s ability to parent or the impact on the child. Parents like Adaline, who rely on medical marijuana or other substances as part of a legitimate treatment plan, are frequently judged unfit to care for their children. The system’s failure to differentiate between substance use and abuse has led to an alarming rise in family separations due to drug use.
Over the past two decades, the number of children removed from their homes due to parental substance use has more than doubled. In 2019 alone, nearly 80,000 children were placed in foster care for this reason, accounting for over one-third of all removals. These cases often do not involve evidence of harm or abuse to the child, but rather rely on the mere presence of substance use as grounds for removal.
The psychological toll on children removed from their families is severe. Many children in the foster care system experience emotional distress, anxiety, and depression, especially when placed in environments where they feel unsafe or unloved. Siblings are often separated, adding to the trauma. Studies show that children who spend time in foster care are more likely to suffer from long-term mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attachment disorders.
The case of Adaline Stephens’ children is a heartbreaking example of this. Since being placed in foster care, four of her six children have reported abuse, and one son had to be admitted to a mental health facility. The trauma of being separated from their mother and the experiences in foster care have caused lasting damage.
There is a growing consensus that the child welfare system must be reformed to better serve families, especially those living in poverty. Instead of penalizing parents for circumstances beyond their control, the system should focus on providing them with the resources and support they need to keep their families intact. This includes access to affordable housing, healthcare, and mental health services.
Reforming the system would require a shift in how we think about child welfare. Rather than viewing it as a means of policing and regulating families, we should approach it as an opportunity to provide meaningful assistance to those in need. By addressing the root causes of neglect—poverty, housing instability, and substance use—we can reduce the number of children unnecessarily placed in foster care.
The child welfare system’s current approach to family separation disproportionately affects low-income and minority families, causing long-lasting harm to children and parents alike. By conflating poverty and substance use with parental unfitness, the system often punishes those who are most in need of help. Reforming the child welfare system to focus on supporting families rather than breaking them apart is not just a moral imperative, but a necessity to prevent further damage to the lives of vulnerable children across the country.
Addressing this crisis requires immediate action, including systemic reforms that prioritize keeping families together and providing the necessary resources to parents who are struggling. Only then can we hope to end the cycle of trauma that has plagued so many families and ensure a brighter future for all children.
