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Articles by Shanta Trivedi
Using the restatement of children and the law to consider the harm of removal
The family policing system separates families every day. As a result, children and their parents suffer lifelong, irreversible trauma and a host of other negative consequences. The Restatement acknowledges these harms and directs courts to consider the harms of removal throughout court proceedings when deciding whether a child should be removed from their parents or in determining if reunification is appropriate.
Commentary: Charging parents when children arrested would only do more harm
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates held a news conference this month in which he seemed to celebrate the arrest of a group of children allegedly connected to a carjacking ring operated out of a “clubhouse.” Putting aside whether that is something our community should celebrate, Bates had a message for parents: “If you remember one thing from this press conference,” he said, “just remember two words: parental accountability.” He warned parents, “You may need a lawyer, because you could...
50 years after the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, it’s time to redefine child protection through a lens of equity and support
Opinion Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read moreopinions on theGrio. Preventing child abuse is something we all care about. Yet, the first federal law enacted to do just that fails to actually reduce harm to children, instead powering a massive child welfare system that traumatizes and disrupts the lives of millions of Americans — disproportionately Black communities and those experiencing poverty.
Opinion: Inadequate housing for foster children is only part of the problem
The Baltimore Banner has been reporting on how, right now, in Maryland, children in the state’s care are living in hotel rooms and office buildings. We’re told the problem is a “shortfall of placement options” and the fact that group homes have closed. But this framing ignores the actual problem: Maryland doesn’t have too few foster homes, Maryland has too many foster children.
Amidst a Nationwide Formula Shortage, a Reminder: The Decision To Breastfeed Is Personal
The U.S formula shortage is prompting bad-faith—but unsurprising—judgment of mothers who cannot or do not breastfeed, callously calling on them to “embrace your womanhood.” Parents of infants are facing a terrifying crisis—the possibility that they will be unable to feed their babies due to a nationwide formula shortage. At the end of April, stores were out of 40 percent of the most popular formula brands, up from 31 percent two weeks prior.
The Supreme Mom Guilt Is Real: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Motherhood
The struggles of working motherhood in a society not built to support mothers has been documented time and again. But, in many ways, what Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed during her hearings is unique to Black women. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on March 22—day two of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on her nomination to become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Apparently We Don’t Need Abortion Because of Adoption ... "or Whatever"
Amy Coney Barrett’s suggestion that adoption is a simple alternative to abortion is shocking. To have that suggestion come from a mother of seven children—who has both been pregnant and been through the process of adoption—is dangerous. During oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Mississippi case seeking overturn Roe v. Wade, Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned whether abortion was really necessary anymore given the existence of safe haven laws.
Texas Is Failing Its Children: The Hidden Consequences of S.B. 8
Texas ranks 46th in the U.S. on overall child well-being. So when Texas Republicans say they’re pro-life—what kind of life do they mean? An abortion rights rally outside the Supreme Court in June 2016. (Lorie Shaull / Flickr) Over the last two months, abortion providers in Texas have shared the horror stories of people who can no longer access abortions after the passage of S.B. 8.
Britney Spears and the Right to Reproductive Justice: Regulation and Conservatorship in the Child Welfare System
After the outrage surrounding Britney Spears’s conservatorship, activists have seized the opportunity to draw attention to the daily struggles faced by many trapped in the “child welfare” system—or, as advocates rightly dub it, the family regulation system. Black and Native families are more likely to be reported to child protective services, to have their cases substantiated and to have their children removed and placed into foster care.
Adoption and Safe Families Act: The ‘Crime Bill’ of Child Welfare
As we move into a new Democratic administration, ending family separation inflicted by the so-called child welfare system should be a top priority. Specifically, the Biden administration should refuse to sanction the federal government’s endorsement of arbitrary timelines that permanently tear families apart. That means repealing the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
Adoption and Safe Families Act is The 'Crime Bill' of Child Welfare
As we move into a new Democratic administration, ending family separation inflicted by the so-called child welfare system should be a top priority. Specifically, the Biden administration should refuse to sanction the federal government’s endorsement of arbitrary timelines that permanently tear families apart. That means repealing the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
Opinion | Common behaviors for white parents cause Black children to be taken out of their homes
The callous killing of George Floyd at the hands of those charged with his protection has energized calls to reform our policing system. But if we’re serious about protecting Black families as a whole, we cannot limit the conversation to the police alone. We need to transform the child welfare system, too.
COVID-19 has caused a sudden drop in child welfare reports.
Too many parents lose their kids simply because they are poor. Getty Images Plus Thanks to the “new normal” of COVID-19, we are separated from people we love, many are facing economic insecurity, and our daily routines have been shattered. For most children, playdates are halted, playgrounds are roped up, and schools are closed. Parents who are still employed are juggling their full-time jobs with full-time childcare.
Note to Democrats: We need compassion and reason regarding child welfare
Family separation among migrants has been a front-and-center campaign issue for the Democratic candidates and a hot topic of conversation, at the debates and elsewhere. Each candidate has a plan for immigration reform and has vowed that atrocities occurring at the U.S. border would never happen under their presidential watch. Many of the candidates also are tackling criminal justice reform, recognizing that the criminal system also separates millions of children from their parents.
Why are we permitting federal child abuse at our border?
House Judiciary Chair Jerry NadlerJerrold (Jerry) Lewis NadlerTrump knocks Mueller after deal struck for him to testify House Democrats request briefing on Epstein, Acosta Nadler apologized after repeatedly calling Hope Hicks 'Ms. Lewandowski' at hearing MORE (D-N.Y.) recently said that border security officials involved in the separation and decidedly unsafe, un-sanitary treatment of migrant children at the border should be prosecuted for child abuse. Nadler gets it half right.
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