The Evolution of Child Welfare in the US: A Reflection on Historical Inequities and Contemporary Implications

Initial Reactions to Child Welfare History

The evolution of child welfare in America holds a worrisome pattern of policy that has been well-meaning but repeatedly failed to target the root cause of poverty while, simultaneously, perpetuating injustices that reside within the system. The course of history reflects how child welfare agencies have operated as systems of social control rather than as genuine assists to struggling families. Most strikingly evident is the ongoing tension between protecting children and assisting families, too frequently resolved in a way that disproportionately penalizes families of color and poor families: The Evolution of Child Welfare in the US: A Reflection on Historical Inequities and Contemporary Implications.

The shift from in-home community-based care to institutionalized forms reflects broader social shifts, yet the assumptions of undeserving and deserving families have been remarkably resilient. The belief that poverty is synonymous with neglect has persisted for millennia and constructed a system that punishes families by their economic position instead of attempting to eliminate structural inequities that create these conditions (Gordon, 2011).

Historically Unknown Policies and Events

A few of the trends through history were particularly revealing, such as the “orphan trains” that operated from the 1850s to 1930. Charles Loring Brace’s plan to send children from eastern cities to western families in the guise of charitable placement was a form of child trafficking that exploited vulnerable children as labor. The magnitude of this enterprise, with 4,000 children shipped per year by 1875, demonstrates the extent to which child welfare policy has long been aligned with economic interests over children’s best interests (Gordon, 2011).

Mothers’ pensions of 1910-1920 were another crucial finding. While such programs created the initial public precedent for child aid, discriminatory practice demonstrated how racism was embedded from the beginning. While creating a poorer population, Black families received only 3% of awards and Hispanic and American Indian families were intentionally excluded (Gordon, 2011). This early exclusion set down patterns that continue to influence contemporary child welfare outcomes today.

The financial incentives created by the 1961 Congressional action allowing AFDC payments to follow children into foster care fundamentally altered the system’s priorities. In making foster care economically attractive to states while providing little financing for preserving families, this policy created perverse incentives that still exist today (NCCPR, 2021).

Historical Foundations of Contemporary Racism in Child Welfare

The historical argument clearly demonstrates that racism in child welfare is not an afterthought but is inherent in the way the system is administered. Exclusion of minority families from mothers’ pension programs established the pattern of disparate treatment that developed over time but was never abandoned. The readings demonstrate how seemingly race-neutral policies consistently resulted in racially disparate impacts through their administration and financing (McCoy, n.d.).

The connection between historical exclusion and present-day inequality comes out in the examination of how mandatory reporting requirements, established by the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, have been shown to disproportionately target single mothers, underprivileged families, and families of color (Gordon, 2011). The reporting of discrimination is a recreation of old assumptions regarding which families are assumed suspicious or risky, recapping the moral assessments that characterized initial child welfare interventions.

Contemporary child welfare continues to equate poverty with neglect, just as earlier systems did. Families who are economically stressed are at greater risk of being reported, investigated, and having their children taken away, not because they are more likely to be abusive to their children, but because the circumstances that make them more visible to surveillance systems. This perpetuates the age-old pattern of blaming families for structural inequities beyond their control.

The financing arrangement rewarding foster care placement over family support services continues to reinforce long-standing patterns of family disruption. Like orphan trains removing children from their communities and families, systems of today similarly favor removal over addressing the root causes of family instability. This unduly affects families of color, who are disproportionately more likely to be in poverty and systemic disadvantage that leads to engagement with child welfare systems.

Historical analysis concludes that effective child welfare policy involves addressing structural disparities rather than focusing on family shortcomings. The temporary success of the 1980 Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act in reducing foster care rolls back that indicating that family preservation, when well-funded and supported, can offer better outcomes for children without losing family cohesion (NCCPR, 2021).

Understanding this past is necessary to apply today in that it discloses how these differences are not accidents but rather the predictable outcome of policy and practice grounded on past injustices. They are not alleviated through altering present practices but through reenvisioning child welfare as a system that supports rather than commands families.

References

Gordon, L. (2011, January 19). Child welfare: A brief history. Social Welfare History Project. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfarechild-labor/child-welfare-overview/

McCoy, H. (n.d.). The color of child welfare. Augsburg University. https://moodle.augsburg.edu/moodle2021/pluginfile.php/1147518/mod_resource/content/2/McCoy%20the%20color%20of%20child%20welfare%20%281%29.pdf

NCCPR. (2021, November). A child welfare timeline. National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. https://nccpr.org/a-child-welfare-timeline/

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• https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfarechild-labor/child-welfare-overview/
• https://nccpr.org/a-child-welfare-timeline/
• https://moodle.augsburg.edu/moodle2021/pluginfile.php/1147518/mod_resource/content/2/McCoy%20the%20color%20of%20child%20welfare%20%281%29.pdf

The Evolution of Child Welfare in the US: A Reflection on Historical Inequities and Contemporary Implications

The above links are readings for the week.

Please use those readings to respond to the questions.

• What are some of your reactions on the evolution of the history of child welfare in the US? What are some of the major historical policies or events that you learned about that you had not known about before? Discuss how child welfare history informs us about the pervasive racism in the system today. Use specific examples from the readings and the contemporary child welfare context to illustrate your point