The Imprint, CalMatters Network
By Jessica Pryce
Power dynamics form the subtle backdrop of most child protective services interactions. At the very least, we should be ensuring the workforce understands and acknowledges the power that they have. Better yet, we should be training them on how to share that power with families.
Powerlessness is defined as alienation and a lack of autonomy and participation. CPS-involved families feel powerless when faced with the…
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And let’s not forget the negative bias that long time workers have that leads to exaggerating or downright lying to make their case. Or the fact that they target young women with children under five, little or non-existent support systems, who despite jumping through all the hoops, lose their children to adoption because CPS gets bonuses from the feds for all the children adopted out. Bonuses they lose unless they increase that number every year. Look it up, federal health and welfare law. While older kids who truly need help are completely ignored because they are not adoptable. There’s a problem with an agency that has more power than the courts. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.