Investigating Families

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For many parents, a visit from a state agency with the authority to remove their children is a profound fear, particularly prevalent in low-income and communities of color. Nationwide, one in three children, and over half of Black children, encounter Child Protective Services (CPS) during childhood. This work draws on extensive field research to explore the U.S. child welfare system, offering insights into CPS's operations and the experiences of mothers involved. Kelley Fong conducted qualitative research across Connecticut and Rhode Island, observing investigative visits, interviewing caseworkers and mothers, reviewing case records, and attending staff meetings and trainings. She reveals how CPS reports are socially constructed and how, within a framework of austerity and structural racism, these reports serve as a response to the challenges faced by professionals in education, healthcare, and law enforcement. This work argues that CPS reframes adverse experiences—often rooted in trauma, such as domestic violence and homelessness—as child mistreatment. The ideologies and inequities of race, class, and gender particularly target poor mothers of color, placing them under scrutiny by CPS.