Child protection/related services and anti-statism

[Invincible Summer]

So a friend of mine recently ranted to me about how child protection services that remove children from "at risk' families and whatnot are akin to "government sponsored, child kidnapping agencies."

He's a Libertarian (notice the big L) and tends to sensationalize anything that a federal government does as "evil." I don't want to get into how governments operating within capitalism are evil, it's beside the point.

Here's his argument:


The CPS (child protection services) and other similar organizations are not run by the federal government (rather counties and states), however they do receive... funding from the federal government. This is a very complex issue. These services receive federal dollars and legal immunity in any cases where they encounter *possible* abuse, so the incentive is to snatch kids because they have a bounty on their heads. Once the kids are snatched (without a warrant or any kind of legal notice) as portrayed in the news story, the parents have very little recourse and deal with family "kangaroo" courts in which there's no law or due process. Even worse than all that is that there have been many documented cases of CPS workers in Texas and Georgia raping and abusing kids. If they aren't raped under CPS care, kids are an order of magnitude more likely to be neglected or killed under foster care than with their biological parents.

These cases are numerous and don't usually make it past local news. There is a common perception that child welfare agencies will only take your kids if you're a hardcore addict, or abusive, or otherwise an evil person. Even then, one makes the assumption that you can go through proper legal channels to regain custody etc. I'm talking about straight up kidnapping on the basis of hearsay.

I was wondering how such services are viewed amongst the left, especially Anarchists. Do you support government agencies removing children from harmful/potentially harmful households or environments? In the case of abuses, how would a more de-centralized system handle this?

Or do you think that there is a better way? How would such services be carried out in a de-centralized society (i.e. post-revolution, anarchist fashion)?

I've posted this in OI to get other opinions too.

[Peace on Earth]

The concept of protecting children from abusive parents or harmful home environments is fine. There are instances which childre are in danger. However, it doesn't solve problems. Taking a child from a home emotionally damages both child and many times the parent(s). Then it forces the parent(s), most times low-income families, to manuever through a complex legal system that produces more headaches and heartbreaks than results.

I don't have a picture-perfect idea for what the ideal system would be, although it would focus more on resolving the problems at hand and providing resources for all parties to deal with and overcome the issues.

[RGacky3]

You know what this is? Its the same thing with dealing with gang problems. You sqeeuze a community leave them in the dumps then when things go bad, you punish them.

Heres what should be FIRST priority, economic opportunities in poor areas so that maybe not BOTH parents have to work 1 or 2 jobs come home exausted and make it really really hard to be a parent. Second, maternity leave, free day care centers, things like that. When REAL investment is put into poor areas, (obviously it should be through local governments, where the local people have demcoratic oversight), I guarantee you a lot of these problems will lessen tremendously.

Now if after all that a childs life is in danger, yeah, something has to be done.

But the American political standard has always been on reaction, without EVERY fighting the systemic causes.

In todays world parenting has almost become a class issue, if your rich enough to take time off work, only have one parent work, and spend time with your child then its fine.

But assholes like Glenn beck will just say "if your unemployed get 2 jobs and suck it up" oh and "take care of your kids better you irresponsible bum" oh and "If you get credit and the bank screws you, deal with it you bum, you should'nt have taken a loan" oh and "don't complain about your lot in life, your just not an eunreprenoir," and then when your son makes some bad desicions that his parents can't see because they are working 2 jobs "SEND HIM TO PRISON."

I can't begin to describe how dispicable that position is. Personally, as a christian (a purely moral standpoint not political), people that have those positions should be ashamed of themselves, its sick.

To me this is an extremely important issue. As the right wing always says, the family is the nucleous of society, which I absolutely agree it is, yet they clearly don't want to do anything to actually help families or support any sort of family values, they just want to brake up families that have homosexual parents. Its dispicable.