Auditors for the Montana Legislature have now made clear that Montana’s “child welfare” system is not about children and does not promote their welfare. Perhaps now, thanks to a performance audit of the Child and Family Services Division, lawmakers will face up to the harm done by Montana’s dubious distinction, child removal capital of America.
The audit reveals that Montana’s extreme outlier status does not keep children safe, and it reveals that the all-purpose knee-jerk excuse from CFSD – it’s drugs, you know – doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
But the report is mistaken in suggesting that if everyone just got the paperwork in order and understood the “practice model” things would change. Saving Montana children from their saviors requires much more.
