In trying to unpack the relationship between poverty and child neglect, significant questions
emerge. What are the poverty-related5
and clinical6
concerns of families presenting to child welfare
for reasons of neglect? To what degree does intervention with families focus on the clinical problems
of parents and children rather than the deprived circumstances in which they live? To what extent
does family poverty compared to clinical concerns influence decision-making in cases of neglect?
Are there families involved with child welfare for reasons of poverty alone? Is neglect a social justice
issue that calls for change at the structural level alongside of the individually based interventions
most common through the child welfare system? And if so, how might child welfare workers
contribute to these changes while at the same time meeting the immediate individual needs of
affected children and their families?