From Inquest:
The family court has been a central actor in the history of state intervention in family life, driven by the belief that it could solve family problems, that it could do good. The consequence is that by trying to do good, it fails to do justice and often does great harm. The procedures and policies of modern family court reflect some of this country’s worst afflictions—including racism and a deep mistrust and disdain of lives lived in poverty. The time has come to stop trying to fix or reinvent the court; the time has come to take the steps necessary to abolish it.
In the spring of 2020, family regulation reforms began to sweep the country. The state of New York eliminated the term “incorrigible” from its status offenses statute, encouraged by the Brooklyn-based Girls for Gender Equity, which lobbied the legislature under the banner “Encourageable not Incorrigible.” Community activists also spurred New York to amend its child abuse and neglect reporting law, raising the standard of evidence from “some credible evidence” to “a fair preponderance of evidence” to initiate a court petition for child maltreatment and reducing the impact of “hotline report” records. During that same spring, Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker announced a plan to close five state juvenile detention centers that were “too punitive and too ineffective” and deemed to “exacerbate [the] trauma . . . [and create] a culture of instability and violence.” Instead of large detention facilities “rife with racism,” in Pritzker’s words, juveniles would be sent to residential treatment centers, with dorm-like accommodations and wraparound services. California governor Gavin Newsom adopted a similar plan, moving to close all state juvenile prisons and keeping youth closer to home in county facilities by July 2021. And in reaction to staff abuses in Philadelphia’s youth residential and group home facilities, a new youth ombudsperson office was created to investigate complaints. Continue reading >>>
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