Broken: Transforming Child Protective ServicesNotes of a Former Caseworker [Hardcover]

Its an invaluable insider account of a pressing social issue. - Publishers Weekly

Joining the ranks ofEvicted and The New Jim Crow, a former caseworkers searing, clear-eyed investigation of the child welfare systemfrom foster care to incarcerationthat exposes the deep-rooted biases shaping the system, witnessed through the lives of several Black families.

Dr. Jessica Pryce knows the child welfare system firsthand and, in this long overdue work of narrative nonfiction, breaks it down from the inside out, sharing her professional journey and offering the crucial perspectives of caseworkers and Black women impacted by the system. It is a groundbreaking and eye-opening confrontation of the inherent and systemic racism deeply entrenched within the child welfare system.

Pryce started her social work career with an internship where she was committed to helping keep children safe. In the book, she walks alongside her close friends and even her family as they navigate the system, while sharing her own reckoning with the requirements of her job and her role in the systemic harm. Through poignant narratives and introspection, readers witness the harrowing effects of a well-intentioned workforce that has lost its way, demonstrating how family separation is often not in a childs best interests.

With a renewed commitment to strengthening families in her role as activist, Pryce invites the child welfare workforce to embark on a journey of self-reflection and radical growth. At once a framework for child protective services reform and an intimate, stunning first-hand account of the system as it currently operates,Brokentakes everyday scenarios as its focus rather than extreme child welfare cases, challenging readers to critically examine their own mindsets and biases in order to reimagine how we help families in need.

This groundbreaking book confronts the uncomfortable truths of the child welfare system: