Expanding the Parent-Child-State Triangle in Public Family Law: The Role of Private Providers

This chapter challenges the three-party framework as it applies to the dependency system, the social services, and legal system that authorizes and provides for state intervention in the family, based on allegations of child abuse and neglect. The argument for inclusion of private agencies as stakeholders with an important, recognized role in dependency proceedings is ultimately based on the assessment that such inclusion promotes the protection-based best interest of children. The implications of this more inclusive framework are extensive and this chapter discusses one possible implication: the effect of an enhanced role for private providers on the representation of children. It attempts an honest portrayal of the agencies, including their ongoing cultural bias, and determines that their increased visibleparticipation is a positive reform, especially when the agency is made accountable by participation in dependency hearings. The chapter also determines that the extensive involvement of private providers is already part of the system.