Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition

In Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System, Alan J. Dettlaff presents a call to abolish the American child welfare system due to the harm and destruction it causes Black families. Dettlaff traces the origins of the modern child welfare system, which emerged following the abolition of slavery, to demonstrate that the harm and oppression that result from child welfare intervention are not the result of "unintended consequences" but rather are the clear intents of the system and the foreseeable results of the policies that have been put in place over decades. By tracing the history of family separations in the United States since the era of slavery, Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System demonstrates that the intended outcomes of those separations--the subjugation of Black Americans and the maintenance of white supremacy--are the same intended outcomes of the family separations done today. What distinguishes contemporary family separations from those that occurred during slavery is that today's separations occur under a facade of benevolence, a myth that has been perpetuated over decades that family separations are necessary to "save" the most vulnerable children. Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System presents evidence of the vast harms that result from family separations to make a case that the child welfare system is beyond reform. Rather, the only solution to ending these harms is complete abolition of this system and a fundamental reimagining of the way society cares for children, families, and communities.

About the Author :
Alan J. Dettlaff, PhD, is professor and former dean of the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Dettlaff began his career in the child welfare system, where he worked as a caseworker and administrator. Today his work focuses on ending the harm that results from this system. In 2020, he helped to create and launch the upEND movement, a collaborative effort dedicated to abolishing the child welfare system and building alternatives that focus on healing and liberation. He is also cofounding editor of Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to developing and disseminating an abolitionist praxis in social work.

Review :
Starting at enslavers' brutal separation of Black families, Alan J. Dettlaff adeptly traces the racist foundations of today's child welfare system Dettlaff offers a profound and timely exploration of the destructive impact of systemic racism on the lives of African Americans." Written with deep passion and a keen sense of urgency, this powerful book is both a poignant historical account of the violent legacy of what the author calls the 'family policing system,' and an urgent call for action. This analysis is just what is needed right now to document the ways that the carceral logic of the so-called child welfare system is a cornerstone of the larger punishment apparatus that has emerged from persistent White supremacy, enslavement, and genocide in this country. The precision by which the author challenges any misconceptions about how and why Black people are targeted by forcible separation, coupled with the clear and well documented argument about mean-spirited policies, make this a tremendously valuable contribution to the growing body of literature on abolition, policy change, and social justice work." This wonderful examination of US child welfare's devastating history ends with a well-argued chapter on abolition. Skeptical readers should begin at the end. Use the chapter's bright and urgent vision as a guide to understand how where we're at is not where we must be. Dettlaff and his colleagues propose abolition as a practical call to action." The most common phrase in the family policing lexicon is 'best interests of the child.' Alan Dettlaff and his coauthors show us why for children, especially Black children, it also is the most dangerous. This book deserves an important place among the growing literature exposing the dangers of family policing and the 'child welfare' surveillance state." This is a thought-provoking book from an activist's perspective. Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.