In a typical year, 1 in 5 US children have some interaction with the child welfare system. This collection is the first to critically examine the child welfare system's role in governing poor, disproportionately Black and Native families. It shows that the child welfare system is a key site of poverty governance.

"Policing Not Providing: The Child Welfare System as Poverty Governance critically analyzes how the U.S. child welfare system surveils and polices poor families, especially poor Black and Native families, rather than meeting families' basic needs or protecting children from harm"--