Abstract
Mandated reporting laws are pertinent to practitioners of “helping professions,” such as social workers, doctors, nurses, and teachers. These laws dictate that a professional or student in those fields must report suspected child maltreatment to the state for investigation. The report, as well as the investigation that follows, has the potential to result in removal and separation of children from their parents or caretakers. The child welfare system of which mandated reporting is a component has a cruel history of racism and white supremacy, as well as prejudice towards those experiencing poverty, disabilities, mental health concerns, homelessness, and substance use disorders. This research examines the disproportionate harm the child welfare system has on Black and Brown individuals, particularly in New York, and how the system has used mandated reporting laws to further marginalize oppressed communities since the 1970s. This research indicates the need to comprehensively reimagine the erroneously named “child welfare system” starting with repealing mandated reporting laws in the United States.
Highlights
Mandated reporting laws are pertinent to practitioners of “helping professions,” such as social workers, doctors, nurses, and teachers
The “family regulation system,” a term coined by Dorothy Roberts in 2020 for the industry more commonly known as the child welfare system1, dates back to the 1850s, informally starting with what is known as the Orphan Train movement
Through the operation of the family regulation system, including the foster care system, the United States demonstrates that it believes the state will do a better job of parenting a child than those living in poverty, Black folks, Indigenous individuals, immigrants, and people with disabilities
Summary
The “family regulation system,” a term coined by Dorothy Roberts in 2020 for the industry more commonly known as the child welfare system, dates back to the 1850s, informally starting with what is known as the Orphan Train movement. Through the operation of the family regulation system, including the foster care system, the United States demonstrates that it believes the state will do a better job of parenting a child than those living in poverty, Black folks, Indigenous individuals, immigrants, and people with disabilities This is the intent of the family regulation system and has been since its formation; it is by choice, not coincidence, as was seen in the Orphan Train’s movement to “clean up” urban communities. As Black and other communities of color continuously suffer from racist systems and policies, their negative health outcomes and poor living conditions, caused by white supremacy and the cultural imperialism of America, are used against them in the form of mandated reporting and state-led interventions like child removal This perpetuates the historically traumatic narrative of Black families as unworthy or incapable. We believe that the family regulation system should be defunded and the money reinvested back into the community, with community members at the forefront of deciding what gets funded
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