(C) Tennessee Lookout
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout and is unaltered.
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Tennessee should not fight child abuse with more violence – Tennessee Lookout [1]
['More From Author', 'June', 'Anna Carella']
Date: 2023-06-29
The University of Tennessee recently published a report documenting the economic impact of child abuse in Tennessee. While the intent supposedly is to elevate the issue of child abuse in the state, the report lacked any mention of the traumatic and economic impacts of families being investigated by the Department of Children’s Services (DCS), or of children being forcibly separated from their families.
Moreover, it did not address the racial disparities that undergird DCS investigations. The report’s focus on abuse by families without detailing the abuse of families fails to tell the full story of the “child welfare” system in Tennessee.
The state itself is a perpetrator of abuse and neglect by withholding adequate social and economic support for poor families, which often is the reason people come into contact with DCS. Legal scholar and activist Dorothy Roberts coined the term “family policing” to describe the policing and fear that poor families and families of color endure at the hands of the state. This mistreatment is an extension of the carceral system that is designed to punish families for the harms that social policies create.
The report lumps together physical abuse, sexual abuse, drug exposure, and neglect under the heading of child abuse to create their 1 in 8 figure for substantiated cases. However, only 17% of children removed from their parents are due to allegations of physical or sexual abuse. The majority of removals are due to parents lacking the necessary social and financial support to raise their children. This is the criminalization of poverty.
Racial disparities permeate the state’s treatment of families and children: More than half of all Black children in this country will experience a child welfare investigation by the time they reach age 18.
The state also perpetuates racial violence via the family policing system. Indigenous children are four times more likely to be removed by the state than non-Native children. Doctors are more likely to suspect child abuse if the child is Black versus white, with the same injuries.
More than half of all Black children in this country will experience a child welfare investigation by the time they reach age 18. As reported earlier this year, the disparity in how white families are treated by the state versus families of color is a continuation of a long tradition of child theft from families of color.
The child welfare crisis in Tennessee has been extensively documented. When children are removed from their families they’re further neglected by the state. Children are forced to sleep on office floors with no pillows or blankets provided, being warehoused indefinitely without a place to shower or basic privacy, young children are housed with teens with a history of violence, and kids are being revictimized in foster care. These conditions are by design and cannot ensure true safety for children.
To be clear, childhood trauma and abuse is a problem, and should be addressed with ample economic and social support— what JMAC For Families calls “Mandatory Supporting” rather than mandatory reporting — to families in the form of expanded TANF, SNAP, WIC, the child tax credit, accessible drug treatment options, and much much more. Research shows that preventing child abuse and neglect means providing affordable housing, access to healthy food, and affordable health care.
The UT report, however, offers little in terms of solutions. The authors’ answer is therapy to address the harm after the fact because the problem is too complicated to prevent. At Healthy and Free Tennessee, we strongly disagree. To us the solution is clear: abolish the family regulation system and give more resources to struggling Tennessee families so they can raise their children in safe and healthy environments, free from criminalization and surveillance.
June is National Reunification Month, an opportunity to recognize the people and ongoing efforts around the country that help families stay together.
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