Replacing CPS: Issues in Building an Alternative System

Abstract

There is now widespread agreement that the child protection system in all states needs major reform, There is consensus that current policies and services regarding maltreatment are not meeting the needs of many children. Given the failures of past reform efforts, there is a movement for substantially limiting the jurisdiction of CPS. Some commentators call for abolishing CPS entirely, which is seen as reflecting racial bias at its core, harming the children it seeks to help, undermining poor communities, and functioning in negative ways that are not amenable to reform. In this article, I examine the outcomes that should be the focus of government policies regarding child well-being. I then look at the proper role for CPS systems in achieving these outcomes, arguing that CPS intervention should be limited to situations involving parental behaviors that cause or threaten severe harm and may be repeated. These constitute less than twenty percent of the cases now seen by CPS; CPS should not be involved in at least 80 percent of the situations currently investigated by CPS agencies. Reducing the role of CPS should not, however, reduce efforts to help families where the parents are unable to provide the types of parenting needed to protect and promote the basic emotional and social development of children The article proposes a new system for helping parents and protecting children in most of the situations now referred to CPS. However, implementing alternative approaches is very challenging. The article examines a range of issues that must be addressed in designing a new system.