School of Social and Political Science

Description

Child welfare systems in the United States substantiate over 500,000 allegations of child maltreatment each year and hold parents responsible for this maltreatment in most cases. Parents who are substantiated are often listed on US state child maltreatment registries for years, if not decades. Originally designed to investigate and process allegations of child maltreatment, registries and the data they contain are now used by employers to identify perpetrators of maltreatment and essentially bar them from employment in occupations that care for children and other vulnerable populations. As a consequence of this use, thousands of US parents, disproportionately mothers, are prevented from engaging in paid care work, undermining their ability to care for themselves and their families.

Through a review of US state statutory schemes, child welfare data, and policy and practice documents, this seminar examines the strengths and limitations of existing registry systems in the the United States; highlights the due process challenges they raise; considers their disproportionate impact on poor women and women of color; and suggests statutory reforms that work to safeguard children while minimizing economic consequences to families. In addition, this seminar will contrast US registry schemes with child welfare/protection policies and proposals in the the UK.

This event takes place in-person in the Practice Suite (1.12), School of Social and Political Science, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square.

Please note that this event may be recorded. The recording will be used for internal University of Edinburgh teaching purposes only.

About our speaker:

Dr Colleen Henry is a critical child welfare scholar and an expert in child and family policy. She is a faculty affiliate of the Mack Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and previously served as an associate professor and chair of social policy at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York.

Dr Henry’s mixed-methods research leverages administrative data to explore, document, and better understand front end child welfare policy and practice and state intervention in family life. Her work systematically examines how child welfare systems define specific caregiver actions or omissions as child maltreatment, how these definitions evolve over time, and their impact on families. Findings from her theoretical and applied research have been published in leading social work, child welfare, and law journals and have informed both policy and practice in the United States and internationally.

Dr Henry is the principal investigator for the Child Abuse & Neglect Registry Project, which examines the policies, procedures, and practices governing child maltreatment registries in the United States, as well as the consequences of registry listing for children and families. She earned both her MSW and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. After completing her MSW, she worked as a social worker in California’s public child welfare system before returning to graduate school.

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