The System That Separates Families And Calls It ‘Help’

What if the system meant to protect children is actually causing harm?In this powerful conversation, the Black Robe Podcast sits down with renowned scholar, author, and activist Dorothy Roberts to expose the truth behind what she calls the family policing system, often labeled “child welfare” or “child protection.”Dorothy Roberts, author of Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World, explains how families, especially Black and Brown families are routinely surveilled, investigated, and separated, often not because of abuse, but because of poverty, housing insecurity, and systemic inequality.In this episode, we explore: • Why family separation is framed as “help” and what it actually does • How poverty gets legally reclassified as neglect • Why over half of Black children face child welfare investigations before age 18 • How police, schools, hospitals, and social services work together to police families • The trauma families experience during investigations and removals • What real family support and community investment could look like instead • Dorothy’s upcoming memoir The Mixed Marriage Project and her lifelong advocacy workThis conversation challenges long-held assumptions and invites us to rethink how we protect children, support families, and build safer communities.🎟️ Dorothy Roberts is the keynote speaker at IBJ’s Liberation Gala on February 28.📚 Her books include Torn Apart, Killing the Black Body, Fatal Invention, and her upcoming memoir The Mixed Marriage Project.

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The System That Separates Families And Calls It ‘Help’ is an episode from Black Robe Podcast by Institute for Black Justice.

This episode is 00:59:51 long.

This episode was published on Jan 24, 2026.

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