The Child Welfare Monitor’s review of David Ambroz’ autobiography explores the dominant narrative that child welfare should be abolished – first because child protection is a policing system that removes children from their families without sufficient cause, particularly families of color, and second that foster care is virtually always bad.
In Ambroz’ case, child protection was not too quick to act, rather it waited too long and failed repeatedly to support him and his sister. He does describe a horrific example of foster care, but includes a good one as well.
The dominant narrative reasons simplistically that child welfare should be abolished because it always fails in the same ways. A more balanced analysis would conclude that the system is complex, and eradicating it would have unintended catastrophic results for children. The only realistic option is to improve it.