Alabama Rises As A Model For Child Welfare

The hild welfare system is very anti-family. I guess a large part of that is recent and not so recent incidents in which children in danger have been killed by their parents due to the system not properly monitoring, so now the system says, "Let's just get them out". But them what? Noone really wants these kids, who have grown up in such dysfunctional environments, producing emotional and behavioral problems. Who really wants to handle that? I don't believe parents abuse their kids because they want to abuse their kids. It is a symptom of their own problems, such as mental illness or drug abuse, or their own abuse as children. If we really want to protect children, we have to help their parents. Otherwise, the already out of control foster care system will disintegrate under the huge burden it has. Of course, those parents who don't want help are a different story. But given the opportunity for some real success, most people would take that. The problem is, you have to overhaul most systems in social services. If a single mother with three kids gets a 10.00/hour job, she can't keep that job if she can't afford day care. You can't get a decent job without a high school diploma. You can't keep a job with a drug problem. It is a huge undertaking, to truly take the problem of disenfranchised children seriously.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/national/20alabama.html?hp&ex=1124596800&en=36cc04aa4416f325&ei=5094&partner=homepage