Baltimore Child Welfare Director: Foster Care is a Bad Idea – Kids Belong in Families

Child welfare is an industry and industries are self-protecting ecosystems. Think about it, the only time the federal government pays me is when I take somebody’s kid. And as soon as that kid’s in foster care they instantly become a commodity, and the industry starts to wrap around, doctors, lawyers, judges, social workers, advocates, whole organizations. The industry is committed to this intervention, this taking other people’s children, ‘cause that’s what it needs to survive. And it’s on auto pilot and it’s going to do whatever it has to do to stay alive.