California should reform child neglect laws

We’ve all read enough news coverage about government agencies to understand that they rarely handle basic responsibilities (filling potholes, etc.) in an efficient and competent manner. Given that track record, it’s not hard to imagine the problems that occur when government officials insert themselves into the most private and emotionally complex aspects of people’s lives.

We’re referring to Child Protective Services laws, which empower social workers to remove children from their homes and place them in foster care. These agencies have the power to break up families based on their judgment calls about the safety of children. They operate in a secretive manner because of laws designed to protect personal family information.

These agencies have a tough job, but they often are tarnished by scandal. Some involve incidents where social workers failed to protect a child, while others involve those who may have unnecessarily removed children or failed to follow the law in doing so. Regarding the former, in 2022 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $32 million settlement after a lawsuit alleged the department didn’t property investigate abuse allegations that ultimately led to a child’s death.

One infamous case of the latter took place in Orange County more than a decade ago. The county was hit with a $4.9-million legal judgment following one Seal Beach woman’s six-plus-year effort to regain custody of her children. Two social workers were alleged to have filed false reports and withheld evidence that would have cleared the mom, per a 2011 Orange County Register report.

Our Legislature has rarely wanted to unravel a system that’s so complex. It’s admittedly hard to know how to change the rules to provide a fairer process and sometimes legislative efforts make matters worse. Obviously, we need a system to protect children from abuse – but there are many ways to make that system better.

An investigation from CalMatters points to one way to proceed. It zeroes in on “failure to protect” laws that allow social workers to take children from homes where domestic violence is present – such as from a mother who is abused by her partner. However, the law often has the perverse effect of encouraging moms to stay in abusive situations out of fear they might lose their kids and further traumatize the family.

“(O)ther states with similar laws have narrowed the criteria for when a welfare agency can remove a child,” according to the report. Almost all states have these laws, “but California’s is comparably vague, giving social workers wide latitude in deciding when to remove kids.” Critics say our state’s approach treats victims the same as perpetrators. Typical of government, these agencies don’t even tally the number of children taken each year under the law.

An article from USC’s Center for Health Journalism notes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services typically opposes the use of these laws for reasons mentioned above – and that California offers no clear statewide guidance, leaving it in the hands of individual social workers and agencies. It seems like a good place to start, then, for legislators to come up with some sensible guidelines or limits for how local agencies implement them.

There’s no simple fix to these fraught situations, but more transparency and less governmental subjectivity certainly will help.