Coverage
Excerpt in The Inquest
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"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...."
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Jane Spinak Interviewed by Michael Fitzgerald in The Impact
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"A prominent legal scholar’s book argues that — contrary to their therapeutic reputation — the family courts have always dished [out] 'punishments by other names'... Spinak calls for a shift in resources, from family courts to the struggling communities nationwide that send the hundreds of thousands of litigants to these ever-evolving proceedings: families from marginalized communities, who are often impoverished or homeless, and disproportionately Black and Native American."
Read More at The Imprint: Youth and Family News
Jane Spinak in The Center For New York City Affairs advocating to "End Child Protection Reporting as We Know It"
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The child protection services (CPS) reporting system has become so pervasive that for many people it is child protection: “If you see something, say something.” Everyone knows there’s a child abuse hotline to call. Almost every person who interacts with minor children is now a mandated reporter, and the general public is encouraged to voluntarily report concerns. Many states allow anonymous reporting.
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Millions of families are disrupted by investigations that result from reporting, most of which do not to lead to substantiation that maltreatment occurred or to the provision of services. The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect identified this disconnect between the reporting system and protecting children when it wrote in the early 1990s that “it has become far easier to pick up the telephone to report one’s neighbor for child abuse than it is for that neighbor to pick up the telephone and receive help before the abuse happens.” The practice has only grown since then...
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