On the political left, the UpEND movement wants to abolish child welfare. This includes letting communities decide the fate of children who can’t stay with their parents. Such a process, with no regulation or enforceable guidelines, could not be relied on to keep children safe or produce decisions in their best interests. It could easily open the door to anyone who desires access to children.
On the right, groups like the Homeschool Legal Defense Association resist any government involvement with families, overwhelming more moderate voices like the Coalition for Responsible Home Schooling. One consequence is demonstrated by this Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate study, which found that 36% of children removed from school were subjects of one or multiple credible child maltreatment reports.
While child protection and foster care need reforms, the solution is to improve, not abolish them.
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