ABSTRACT
This chapter advocates a returned focus on children as members of an existing family within a larger community as the means for grounding the child welfare system. It begins with an overview of federal involvement in foster care, starting with the 1909 White House Conference on Dependent Care, to show the historical relationship between aid to children and in-home care. The chapter discusses the relationship between poverty and the abuse and neglect system. It provides a fuller examination of the implications of the 1997 changes in abuse and neglect policy for poor children. The chapter also concludes by suggesting alternative approaches to the current abuse and neglect system that will keep children safe in their families, exploring many means for dissolving the perceived dichotomy: protecting children and preserving families. Children and their parents need not be seen as autonomous and potentially conflicting rights-bearers in order to respect interests of both in their shared relationship, and to protect them from harm.
