Chasing read some complaints of Don Wells in a very sad video @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnuSrCGpnQg&lc=Ugz2e0vhRqFHRdMdaiF4AaABAg.ALQ9vK15EgFALQwyJiuFTF
🕯️ Don Wells & the Pain of DCS
“Not all trauma is imagined. Some is deeply rooted in systems that have failed.”
Many people assume Don Wells' grief and rage over the removal of his 3 Sons are just personal or emotional reactions — but what if they’re also rooted in something real?
What if the pain he expresses is tied not just to his loss, but to a system that has a documented pattern of harming families, particularly the poor, rural, disabled, or misunderstood?
In the U.S., Child Protective Services (CPS) and Departments of Child Services (DCS) have long been criticized for removing children unnecessarily, fueled in part by federal funding incentives that reward foster placements and adoptions over family preservation.
💵 The Systemic Root of the Problem
Under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, states are reimbursed per child, per day for every child placed in foster care. (HHS.gov)
The more removals — the more funding.
Meanwhile, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) offers cash bonuses to states for increasing adoptions, especially of children considered "hard to place" — often poor, disabled, or over age 9. (Children’s Bureau)
⚠️ Real Trauma, Not Paranoia
Don’s trauma may feel chaotic — but the fear of losing a child to a system that doesn’t listen or explain itself is real.
Legal scholars like Dorothy Roberts have exposed how the child welfare system can become a weapon against poor families.
“The system doesn’t protect children — it polices families.”
— Dorothy Roberts, Shattered Bonds
🧠 A Message of Compassion
This doesn’t excuse any wrongdoing — but it helps explain the deep panic, mistrust, and rage felt by many parents who lose their children not to violence or neglect, but to a system that operates in secrecy and silence.
What Don Wells may be feeling…
isn’t just guilt.
It’s a cry of helplessness in a world where systems claim to protect — but often destroy.
⚖️ How CPS/DCS Systems Are Funded
📌 CPS (Child Protective Services) and DCS (Department of Child Services) are funded through federal, state, and local budgets — but the federal portion has specific rules and incentives.
💵 1. Title IV-E Funding (Federal Money)
This is the main source of federal money for foster care.
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Title IV-E of the Social Security Act provides reimbursement to states for:
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Foster care maintenance payments
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Administrative costs for managing foster care cases
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Costs of training foster parents and staff
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Some adoption-related expenses
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✅ Here’s the issue:
States are reimbursed per child, per day in foster care — so the more kids placed in care (and the longer they stay), the more money a state may receive.
⚠️ 2. Incentives for Adoption (“Adoption Bonuses”)
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Under a federal law called the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), states get cash bonuses for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care.
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The bonuses vary each year, depending on budget, but they reward states for permanently placing children, especially those considered “hard to place.”
✅ This creates a second incentive:
Removing children, terminating parental rights, and pushing for adoption can financially benefit the state.
🏛️ 3. Administrative and Service Contracts
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Foster care is a whole system: group homes, caseworkers, therapists, transport services, and sometimes even pharmaceutical contracts.
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Many of these services are outsourced to private companies or nonprofits — who also make money per child.
✅ So every child placed into the system supports:
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A case manager’s workload
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A foster family’s stipend
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A mental health provider’s billing
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A private contractor’s operation
❗ The Problem:
This setup can (and has) led to corruption or abuse, where:
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Children are removed without sufficient cause
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Families — especially poor, disabled, or marginalized — are targeted
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Reunification is delayed or blocked to keep funding streams open
It’s not that every CPS worker is “evil” — but the system itself is built on perverse incentives.
🛡️ Important Context:
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States only receive Title IV-E money for eligible children — typically those from low-income households.
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Family preservation programs (like in-home support) get less funding and are not reimbursed at the same rate.
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Many advocates have called for reform to shift money from foster care to family support.
📚 Real-Life Consequences:
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Parents falsely accused or struggling with poverty lose custody.
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Children are placed in foster homes that may be overcrowded or abusive.
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Siblings are separated, traumatized, and cycled through multiple placements.
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Meanwhile, the system that removed them gets paid — whether or not the outcome helps the child.
💡 In Summary:
CPS and DCS don't directly "make money" in a profit sense — but the system benefits financially from child removals and adoptions, and that creates dangerous incentives that can harm families, especially those without resources or support.
Here are credible sources — including government sites, legal analysis, and advocacy groups — that clearly document how CPS/DCS systems are incentivized to place kids in foster care and adoption:
🏛️ 1. Title IV-E Funding (Federal Foster Care Reimbursement)
📌 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/grant-funding/title-iv-e-foster-care
This is the official federal program that reimburses states for foster care maintenance payments and related services. It clearly lays out how funding is based on the number of eligible children in care and the length of stay.
🧠 2. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) & “Adoption Bonuses”
📌 Congressional Research Service (CRS) — “Child Welfare: Federal Policy Changes Enacted in the 1990s”:
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30701
Details how ASFA created financial incentives for states to increase adoptions — including performance-based adoption incentive payments.
📌 Children’s Bureau: Adoption Incentive Program
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/adoption-incentive-payments
Outlines annual bonuses awarded to states for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care — particularly children over age 9, and children with disabilities.
⚖️ 3. The Perverse Incentives: Legal & Advocacy Analysis
📌 Law Review — “When the State Becomes the Parent”
by Dorothy Roberts, University of Pennsylvania
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1405/
Powerful legal breakdown of how child removal is often racialized, class-based, and tied to economic incentives.
📌 National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR)
https://nccpr.org/
This group directly criticizes federal funding structures and documents real cases of unjust removals tied to funding incentives.
Highly respected by journalists and lawyers who deal with CPS abuse of power.
🗞️ 4. Journalism & Public Investigation
📌 The Marshall Project: “Foster Care Agencies Cash In on Poor Families”
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/17/foster-care-agencies-cash-in-on-poor-families
Investigates how government agencies and foster care providers profit from poor families, especially through SSI and adoption subsidies.
📌 NBC News Investigative Report: “Foster System Pays to Remove Kids — But Not to Keep Families Together”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/foster-care-system-pays-keep-kids-out-homes-not-help-n1244200
Shows how most federal funding goes to foster care, not family preservation, which pushes agencies toward removal instead of support.
📚 Want a Book on It?
📖 "Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare" by Dorothy Roberts
Devastating, well-researched, and widely respected in law schools, this book exposes the full picture of systemic harm, particularly in Black communities.
⚠️ Summary for “The People in the Back”:
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States are paid per child per day for foster placements (Title IV-E)
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States get cash bonuses for finalized adoptions (ASFA)
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Family preservation gets far less funding
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These incentives push agencies to remove children instead of support families
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Poor, disabled, and minority families are most targeted
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