Differential Response: A Dangerous Experiment in Child Welfare

Abstract

Differential Response (DR) represents the most important child welfare initiative of the day, with DR programs rapidly expanding throughout the country. It would radically change our child welfare system, diverting the great majority of Child Protective Services (CPS) cases to an entirely voluntary system. This article describes the serious risks DR poses for children, and the flawed research being used to promote DR as “evidence-based.” It puts the DR movement in historical context, as one of a series of extreme family preservation movements supported by a corrupt merger of advocacy with research. It argues for reform that would honor children’s rights, confront the problems of poverty underlying child maltreatment in a serious way, and expand rather than reduce the capacity of CPS to address child maltreatment. It calls for a change in the dynamics of child welfare research and policy so that we can avoid history endlessly repeating itself.