The registries were designed to protect children, but a BuzzFeed News investigation has found that the system often metes out a miscarriage of justice, doing little or nothing to protect children while inflicting lasting harm on adults — who may merely have had an imperfect parenting moment, who committed youthful transgressions they have long since outgrown, or in many cases, who did nothing wrong at all.
Being placed on a registry can cast a decadeslong shadow, ending careers, blocking the chance of getting hired for new jobs, and putting adoption out of reach. And in state after state, people of color — especially if they are living in poverty — are several times more likely to be placed on these registries, and to suffer their consequences.
People can be placed on these registries on the sole judgment of a caseworker and a supervisor from a child protective services agency, without a judge or similarly impartial authority weighing the evidence. What’s more, each state’s program operates with its own idiosyncrasies and policies, which may be sharply divergent from those of a state just next door.
In numerous cases reviewed by BuzzFeed News, people went for years without even knowing they had been listed — until they were turned down for an adoption or a job.
The consequences fall disproportionately on people of color. A BuzzFeed News analysis found that in New Jersey, a Black person such as Terrell-Brown is nearly four times more likely than a white one to be added to the registry. The analysis, which appears to be the first multistate data analysis of registry programs, also showed high rates of disparity in California, Arizona, and elsewhere.
As recent national initiatives have been launched to repair racial inequities in the criminal justice system, the registries, which operate in a quasi-judicial, social services realm, have received far less attention.
Despite the damage these registries often inflict on adults, experts believe that there is no evidence registries actually fulfill their intended purpose: to protect children from future harm. One reason, researchers and attorneys told BuzzFeed News, is that the lists include large numbers of people who don’t deserve to be on them, making them essentially useless tools.
“I agree that parents should want good high-quality information about the people that are caring for their children,” said Kathleen Creamer, a managing attorney for Community Legal Services in Pennsylvania. But, she said, “a registry cannot provide high-quality information, because who goes on a registry is decided so haphazardly.”
Jerry Milner, former president Donald Trump’s associate commissioner of the US Children’s Bureau, a federal agency responsible for improving the foster care, child welfare, and adoption systems, agrees. “We can all rally around this desire to protect children from harm,” he said. “Oftentimes, we use that mentality to condemn parents who don’t need to be condemned, or to disregard parents or punish parents.”
“Sometimes,” he said, “the ‘better safe than sorry’ approach is what gets us in trouble.”
(None of the states examined by BuzzFeed News disputed the results of its analysis. Some provided additional context in statements that can be read here.)
The breadth and impact of the registries have been largely uncharted. There is no definitive list of all the people who appear on them, or what portion poses any actual threat to children. However, a BuzzFeed News analysis of federal data shows that state agencies have issued a finding of child abuse or neglect for at least 3 million people since 2008. In the majority of states, that finding is sufficient to get someone automatically added to the registry.
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, a federal law enacted in 1974, mandates states keep data on child abuse and neglect, so they can track cases and perpetrators. States have gone further, using the databases as case management systems and employment screening tools.
Most states make it hard to appeal inclusion in these registries — if the person in question is even aware that they have been placed on one. Despite these formidable bureaucratic challenges, each year, thousands of people file appeals. When they do, they usually win. The BuzzFeed News analysis shows that nearly two-thirds of all people appealing the state’s findings were successful in Pennsylvania and New Jersey across 10 years of data. In recent years, the rates were much higher — as high as 74% in New Jersey in 2019.
The people who choose to contest their placement on the list are presumably not a representative sample, since those who did commit serious offenses might be less likely to appeal. But the number of successful challenges suggests that thousands more people could have prevailed if they too had the wherewithal to pursue the often daunting appeals process.
The fact that most appeals succeed raises profound questions about the system itself — and has for decades. More than a quarter century ago, a US appeals court considered a civil rights case, Valmonte v. Bane, brought by a parent placed on an abuse list by New York’s child protection agency. Data presented in the case showed that parents succeeded in 75% of their appeals challenges, causing the judge to liken the agency to a car dealer whose vehicles break down three-quarters of the time.
“If 75% of those challenging their inclusion on the list are successful,” Judge Frank Altimari wrote in his opinion, “we cannot help but be skeptical of the fairness of the original determination.”
Altimari sided with the parent, but despite the ruling, the system remains in place, affecting millions of people every year.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottpham/child-abuse-and-neglect-registries-punish-parents-of-color
