Child Welfare System Disproportionately Impacts Families of Color
Original framing: “Is Mandated Reporting Racist? What Families Must Know” — bing news
The disproportionate targeting of Black and Indigenous families in child welfare has roots in eugenicist policies and the 20th-century 'Indian Adoption Project,' which removed Indigenous children to assimilate them. These policies were justified under the guise of 'protecting' children, but they were tools of population control.
The disproportionate impact of child welfare systems on families of color is not an accident but a legacy of eugenicist policies and institutional racism.
Indigenous and Black communities have long advocated for culturally responsive alternatives that center kinship and community care. Scientific evidence supports the efficacy of these models, while cross-cultural examples from Japan and New Zealand show that systemic change is possible. To move forward, we must decentralize power, invest in social determinants, and prioritize marginalized voices in shaping child protection policy.