Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Fall 2014, Vol. 40, No. 3 | Page 41

by Robert Luce, Esq.

THE CHILDREN’S CORNER
Protect Children by Supporting Families
The recent deaths of child abuse victims
sadden and anger all of us. Importantly, it
must move us to take action to protect other children from a similar tragic fate. Unfortunately, there is a risk that misdirected action could cause more harm than help for
Vermont children.
Vermont families, especially families in
poverty, face enormous challenges. Untreated substance abuse, homelessness,
lack of affordable housing and high quality day care, lack of job training and economic opportunity, and mental health challenges leave many children “on the margin
of care.” The vast majority of these children are not at risk of physical abuse but
live in challenged families where the risk
is neglect. Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) provides
powerful evidence that neglected children
“on the margin of care” have better longterm outcomes if they are left in their families rather than removed.1 Identifying and
removing children who are being physically abused is critical. While removing children whose care is considered “neglectful”
may be well-intended, the evidence shows
that it is often more harmful than helpful to
the long term interest of the children (and
wastes precious public resources).2
Recognizing this research, Vermont’s
child welfare law says that one of its purposes is to “strengthen the family and
make the home safe for children whenever possible by enhancing the parental capacity for good child care.”3 Vermont nevertheless removes children from their families at a much higher rate than any of our
neighboring states.4 Four out of five are removed for “neglect,” not physical abuse.5
We must remember what we are removing
children to. The New York Times recently
provided a sobering description of our nation’s foster care system in its review of Cris
Beam’s new book To the End of June.6 As
Beam shows, the current foster care system by and large does not help the children who experience it. The MIT research
and the current state of our foster care system support the view that most children at
risk of neglect are not best served by removal. How can our system account for this
reality while protecting those children who
are a risk of physical abuse?
An effective solution must involve better id