Behind every courtroom order, every removal notice, and every traumatic knock on a family’s door, there’s often a worker—an individual who has been given the authority to make life-altering decisions. But what happens when those workers stop being helpers… and start becoming weapons?

This is the conversation that matters.

We live in a time where the child welfare system is flooded with undertrained, inexperienced hires—some of whom were recently working in fast food or retail just weeks prior. With minimal training and no real-world parenting experience, they’re handed a clipboard, a badge of authority, and the unchecked power to rip families apart.

And too often, they do.

These aren’t just DHR “cases.” These are our children. Our homes. Our legacies.

We’re not just up against outdated laws or broken policies. We’re facing individuals who lack the context, compassion, and qualifications to make responsible decisions—but are backed by a system that emboldens them anyway. Whether motivated by fear, ambition, or simple compliance, they become the face of family destruction. They are the ones pushing removals over reunification. They are the ones testifying based on hearsay and half-truths. They are the ones who confuse parenting with pathology.

When did child protection become a revolving door of entry-level hires?

When did the bar drop so low that someone without children, without deep community understanding, and without specialized trauma training could decide the fate of a family?

This is the failure we must name.

Because behind every traumatized child and devastated parent is often a worker who was never equipped to make these decisions—but was empowered to do so anyway.

This isn’t just policy failure.

It’s a personnel crisis.

And families are paying the price.

If this post speaks to you, share it.

Speak up. Show up. Stay informed.

The fight for justice doesn’t start in courtrooms—it starts in community.