In California there are currently over 60,000 children in foster care. Los Angeles County accounts for more than half that number, with over 33,000 children in the foster care system.
The problem with these statistics is that more than half of the children placed in foster care could have remained home with their parents. Some investigations have discovered that more than half of the children were needlessly placed in the foster care system.
For example, the Daily News in Los Angeles conducted a two-year investigation of the child welfare system. The investigation found that up to 73% of children could have remained home with their parents.
Unfortunately, a child’s welfare doesn’t seem to be a top priority for many CPS workers. Their only motivation for removing a child from their parents is a cash incentive. The county receives $30,000 for each child placed in foster care; and up to $150,000 for special needs children. As you can probably guess, many of these children are labeled as “special needs” children, when in fact there is nothing wrong with them.
This is not just happening in California. Nationwide there are currently over 407,000 children in foster care. This means that over 200,000 children were needlessly removed from their homes and their innocent parents. The children are often placed in situations far more dangerous than their own homes.
CPS workers are able to remove children from their homes by making false allegations against innocent parents. The children are traumatized from being removed from their homes. And the parents are traumatized and distraught from have their kids taken from them.
This means nothing to those involved in the child welfare system. The more kids they put in foster care, the more the money flows through the system. The foster care system has become nothing but a cash cow.
A cash incentive for each child placed in foster care started when the Clinton Administration passed the Adoptions and Safe Families Act in 1997. The focus shifted away from reuniting children with their parents with Title IV-E funds offering a cash incentive for each child placed in foster care.
This has resulted in thousands of children needlessly being removed from their homes and put into the foster care system. Of course there are some situations in which a child should be removed from their parents home. These are situations where the child is in a seriously dangerous situation or is consistently being abused.
Deplorably, this is not the case for a large percentage of the children being removed. More than half of the children being removed from their parents are only being removed because of a cash incentive to do so. Parental rights are being terminated because of false allegations against innocent parents.
This goes against the United Stated Constitution. The Supreme Court has always recognized a parent’s fundamental right to the upbringing of their children.
The Parental Rights Amendment is currently being introduced to congress. This amendment will protect the traditional liberty of parents to direct a child’s upbringing, education, and care as a fundamental right.
Have you had any experiences with CPS and the foster care system? What do you think can be done to reform this system?
Comments / 588