This chapter discusses the complexities and biases within child welfare systems. It highlights the challenges of determining the best interest of the child, the racial disparities within the system, and the emotional impact on birth families when their parental rights are terminated. The chapter also expresses frustration at the difficulties of changing the system and the lack of agency for parents once their rights are severed.
Roxanna Asgarian is the author of We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America.
“Every once in a while, I'll have someone just freak out at me. And it keeps you honest, in a way, because they don't owe you anything. People don't owe you anything as a journalist. ... But everyone reacts to trauma differently and some people really do want to talk about it. And I think the families in this book really wanted to talk about it and it felt like no one was even paying attention to them.”
Show notes:
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