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Abolitionist child protection

Despite guidelines on reporting based on suspicion, interpretation of reasonable suspicion and the threshold for reporting suspected child maltreatment is inconsistent among paediatricians in different settings. Yet, in the words of abolitionist activist Mariame Kaba: “Abolition is a vision of a res...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2024-09, Vol.404 (10458), p.1096-1097
Main Authors: Brown, Jocelyn, DasGupta, Sayantani
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Despite guidelines on reporting based on suspicion, interpretation of reasonable suspicion and the threshold for reporting suspected child maltreatment is inconsistent among paediatricians in different settings. Yet, in the words of abolitionist activist Mariame Kaba: “Abolition is a vision of a restructured society where communities are safe and people have what they need: food, shelter, health care, education, art.” There are accounts of such family separation related to the structures of poverty—for instance, a mother who left her children unattended to attend a job interview. [...]crucial questions are how do we grow and build safer communities and how do we re-envision a new society? Research has shown that social policies can reduce child maltreatment; for example, Medicaid expansion under the US Affordable Care Act resulted in decreased reported neglect rates; increased affordable housing can help address child neglect and physical abuse; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in US states, which provides food benefits to low-income families, was associated with decreased child protection reports and fewer foster care placement.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01931-7