Dara Colwell

In the following viewpoint, Dara Colwell argues that adoption policies such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 have given child protective services more power to remove children from their homes while limiting parents’ ability to keep them. State agencies are motivated to terminate parental rights and expedite adoption because they receive money when they increase adoptions, she contends. Moreover, Colwell claims, parents are given little time to prove they should be reunited with their children, and poor, single parents have few resources to counter the child abuse allegations that resulted in their children’s removal. Colwell is a freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Colwell’s opinion, why does Jennifer believe the system stole her son from her"
2. As reported...