Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems
Public policy often imposes administrative burdens that constrain people’s ability to access benefits and affirmatively exercise fundamental rights. In this article, we extend the administrative burden framework to argue that the state also places burdens on people who have involuntary contact with...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russell Sage Foundation
2023-09-01
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| Series: | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797739897820282880 |
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| author | Frank Edwards Kelley Fong Victoria Copeland Mical Raz Alan Dettlaff |
| author_facet | Frank Edwards Kelley Fong Victoria Copeland Mical Raz Alan Dettlaff |
| author_sort | Frank Edwards |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Public policy often imposes administrative burdens that constrain people’s ability to access benefits and affirmatively exercise fundamental rights. In this article, we extend the administrative burden framework to argue that the state also places burdens on people who have involuntary contact with coercive state institutions, such as the child welfare system. Just as administrative burdens lock “undeserving,” marginalized populations out of benefits, administrative burdens also lock such populations into coercive intrusion. Drawing on interview data with system-involved mothers and child welfare caseworkers, we show how parents subject to oversight by child protection authorities must overcome substantial learning, compliance, and psychological costs or risk losing a fundamental right: the right to parent their children. We suggest that the burdens of service provision should be loaded onto governments rather than already strained and resource-deprived families. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:03:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f4a55a4bbf5421dad2f2e1707827e52 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2377-8253 2377-8261 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:03:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Russell Sage Foundation |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f4a55a4bbf5421dad2f2e1707827e522023-08-21T16:08:09ZengRussell Sage FoundationRSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences2377-82532377-82612023-09-0195214231https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.0Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare SystemsFrank Edwards0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3151-3194Kelley Fong1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9662-6347Victoria Copeland2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2444-5413Mical Raz3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8929-6252Alan Dettlaff4Rutgers University–NewarkUniversity of California, IrvineUniversity of California–Los AngelesUniversity of RochesterUniversity of HoustonPublic policy often imposes administrative burdens that constrain people’s ability to access benefits and affirmatively exercise fundamental rights. In this article, we extend the administrative burden framework to argue that the state also places burdens on people who have involuntary contact with coercive state institutions, such as the child welfare system. Just as administrative burdens lock “undeserving,” marginalized populations out of benefits, administrative burdens also lock such populations into coercive intrusion. Drawing on interview data with system-involved mothers and child welfare caseworkers, we show how parents subject to oversight by child protection authorities must overcome substantial learning, compliance, and psychological costs or risk losing a fundamental right: the right to parent their children. We suggest that the burdens of service provision should be loaded onto governments rather than already strained and resource-deprived families.family inequalitychild welfare systemadministrative burdensracismlow-income mothers |
| spellingShingle | Frank Edwards Kelley Fong Victoria Copeland Mical Raz Alan Dettlaff Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences family inequality child welfare system administrative burdens racism low-income mothers |
| title | Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems |
| title_full | Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems |
| title_fullStr | Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems |
| title_short | Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems |
| title_sort | administrative burdens in child welfare systems |
| topic | family inequality child welfare system administrative burdens racism low-income mothers |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT frankedwards administrativeburdensinchildwelfaresystems AT kelleyfong administrativeburdensinchildwelfaresystems AT victoriacopeland administrativeburdensinchildwelfaresystems AT micalraz administrativeburdensinchildwelfaresystems AT alandettlaff administrativeburdensinchildwelfaresystems |