Every child deserves to grow up in a thriving family and every parent deserves the chance to raise their children with dignity, care, and the support of their community. Yet far too often, families facing poverty become involved with the child welfare system not because they’ve harmed their children, but because they are struggling to meet basic needs.  

In Massachusetts, 69% of reports to the Department of Children and Families are for neglect, but too often, neglect is conflated with material hardship, such as a lack of stable housing, food, or child care. When a family can’t afford new clothes as children grow or are forced to leave a child home alone because there is no other option, it is often a result of poverty, not parental unfitness.  

These misclassifications disproportionately harm Black families. One study found that more than half (53%) of Black children in the U.S. will be reported to CPS by age 18 - a staggering statistic that reflects both racial and economic inequities. Black families are more likely to live in poverty due to systemic barriers, and are more likely to be surveilled and reported. This cycle deepens mistrust and trauma and fails to provide the solutions families actually need. 

We all have a role to play in supporting families to help them out of poverty instead of breaking them apart. 

We know that many families can be safely supported at home when parents have access to resources that support economic and mental health wellbeing, such as home visiting, housing assistance, community resources, and child care. The trauma of family separation is real and lasting. It affects not only children, but parents, siblings, and entire communities. If we truly care about child safety and wellbeing, we must prioritize support over surveillance and resources over removals. 

To get there, we need a more equitable and effective system—one that strengthens families, rather than punishes them for being poor. That means investing in community-based supports, redefining how we understand neglect, and developing alternative response pathways that are strength-based and trauma-informed. It also means supporting the family support workforce by reducing unnecessary investigations, paying a living wage, and focusing child welfare efforts on families truly in crisis. 

Poverty should never be a reason to tear families apart. Let’s shift our focus from policing to partnering, and build a system that supports families, invests in their potential, and sees their strengths not just their struggles. Removing children from their families should be a last resort, not a response to poverty.