Liberal Child Welfare Policy and its Destruction of Black Lives

James G. Dwyer is the Arthur B. Hanson Professor of Law at William & Mary School of Law, USA, where he teaches Youth Law, Family Law, and Law & Social Justice. He has previously served as Guardian ad Litem for children in the Albany, NY area; on the Virginia Governor's Task Force on Expediting Adoptions; and on the Virginia Bar Association Family Law Legislation Committee. He authored the book The Relationship Rights of Children, as well as books on regulation and financing of schools and on children’s moral status, in addition to dozens of articles on child welfare law.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; PART I. THE CYCLE; Chapter 1: The world black children enter Black America; Inner-city impoverished neighborhoods; Parental dysfunction; Community dysfunction; Chapter 2: How we perpetuate the cycle; Pre-natal harm; The state’s bad parentage decision-making; Attachment failure; Hostile residential environment; Foster care decision-making; Lack of preparation for school; Bad schools; Direct neighborhood effects; PART II. BREAKING THE CYCLE; Chapter 3: Conception and pre-natal life; Prevent people unfit to parent from Conceiving; Prevent pregnant women from harming the fetus; Justifying pregnancy-related coercion; Chapter 4: Sparing children from unfit parents; Steps to appropriate state parentage decision-making for newborns; Justifying better parentage decision-making; Chapter 5: Separating children from bad neighborhoods; Failure of the liberal approach; Family law decisions that can relocate children; No-child residential areas; Justifying separation of children from blight; PART III. LIBERAL SUPPORTS FOR THE CYCLE; Chapter 6: Liberal’s search for the Holy Grail; The magic pill for reducing maltreatment rates; Fighting back against the carceral state by imprisoning babies; Chapter 7: Understanding and overcoming liberal resistance; The liberal mindset; The conservative mindset; Conclusion; Appendix; Index