About 60% of child welfare cases are labeled as neglect. Most of the time when children are removed from their families, due to neglect is really about poverty, not abuse. These cases often affect Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ families the most. Families who are struggling don’t need their kids taken away — they need help, support, and people who believe in them.
Engaging with families who have faced trauma and hardship can be hard, especially when they come from different backgrounds than our own. Bias, judgment, and old stereotypes can get in the way. But when we choose to invest in prevention instead of punishment, everyone benefits. Keeping families together matters. Kids need their parents, their homes, and their communities.
Many families face big challenges like addiction, lack of money, housing problems, and trauma. Taking children away because a family is poor only causes more pain and more trauma. A better solution is giving families what they need to succeed — things that help protect children and strengthen parents.
A Clear Solution: Prevention, Not Removal
There are better ways to reduce child removals caused by poverty:
- Wealth Building: Help families learn how to save money, build credit, and move beyond just surviving day to day. This includes improving access to jobs, small business tools, and financial education.
- Education: Teach both families and child welfare staff why poverty-related removals happen. When communities understand the reasons why parents struggle, they can work together to find better solutions.
- Patience and Grace: Poverty didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t be fixed overnight. These problems are tied to long histories of unfair policies and systems. Effective change takes time and care.
Why This Matters
The government spends billions of dollars on foster care and adoption, but much less on helping families before things fall apart. Prevention costs less and works better. When families stay together, communities get stronger, kids heal instead of hurting, and long-term costs go down.
The best way to support children is to support their families — with:
- Living wages
- Safe housing
- Good schools and childcare
- Health care and mental health support
- Freedom from violence
- Clean, healthy environments
Policies like the Family First Prevention Services Act, Kinship Navigator Programs, and shifting funding toward prevention in Title IV-E are steps in the right direction. Early support works. It lowers trauma, saves money, and keeps families whole.
It’s Time for Change
It’s time to rethink child welfare. We must reduce harm, invest in families, and build systems that help people thrive instead of breaking them apart. The work isn’t easy — but it’s worth it.
