The Limits of Child Protective Services

An article appeared in the New York Times today which reported on a study done to determine the relative effectiveness of Child Protective Services investigating a home where abuse and/or maltreatment of children is suspected. The article can be read here. The text of the study itself can be seen here. In the study, the evaluators compared several hundred families who had been investigated against families who had not been investigated. Their determination was all too sobering, if not utterly depressing. In essence, the study found that the intervention of Child Protective Services had virtually no beneficial effect on these families.

Does the finding of this study serve to undermine the entire purpose of Child Protective Services? Should we as a society simply give up trying to help families where children are being abused? Obviously, the answer is a resounding no. Moreover, as a practititioner in New York's Family Court for many years, I find the conclusion of this study perplexing, to say the least. To be sure, there are families beyond the help of anyone. Ultimately, these families are headed by parents whose interpersonal lives are riddled with problems across a wide spectrum including poverty, drug abuse, prior histories of abuse themselves (both as perpetrators and victims), mental illness and so on. Sometimes, there is simply too much for any agency to correct. Still, that is not to suggest that the situation is hopeless.

If the reality of a particular family cannot be sufficiently adjusted to permit a child to remain in the home safely, then there are alternatives, specifically, adoption. Removing a child permanently and placing the child with a new family is clearly an option of last resort. But it is a viable option nonetheless. Similarly, long term placement (via adoption or an order of custody) may serve to preserve the safety of the child without necessarily severing the tie to the biological parents for good. I have represented countless parents and children who have gone on to have meaningful and fulfilling relationships with each other long after the legal ties that bind them have been severed.

So while it may not always be possible to rid an entire family of the various afflictions that confront it, it is still very possible to rescue a child from having to endure the full brunt of those afflictions. To the extent that it remains possible to do that, Child Protective Services will always serve a vital role.