A very controversial topic surges over the United States in an argument if Child Protective Services really does its job. What even is the Child Welfare system? An official government source describes Child Protective Sources as, “The child welfare system is a group of services designed to promote the well-being of children by ensuring safety, achieving permanency, and strengthening families.” Are we really protecting the children from abusive homes, or are we tearing families that may or may not be dysfunctional apart? Through close examination of statistics and studies we can conclude that Child Protective Services does both harm and help many children across the country.
There are many flaws that come with the intrusion of these services. Many families across the country have been torn apart for one reason or another due to circumstances. The homes these children are placed in are oftentimes just as bad, or even worse than the ones they were taken from. Many children within the foster care system suffer from sexually, mentally, and physically abusive families that do as much, if not more harm, than the ones they had previously came from. Sheila Kamerman writes, “Children are killed, children are horribly injured, children disappear and are lost, and often this happens despite the local child welfare agencies' prior knowledge
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Some children, the fortunate ones, are moved to a more effective living environment where they are provided the things they need to grow and thrive. They get provided with proper education and can learn the very valuable skills to be successful in the real world. With sufficient parents children will get it naturally, but if a parent is lacking then there may be things that said parent needs to work on. The entire point of Child Protective Services is to serve and protect the children, and in some cases this goal is accomplished but others it is