The War on Drugs and the Child Welfare System: Preserving Family Bonds Through Litigation

This course will provide a unique perspective for attorneys seeking a better understanding of the ways in which women who use drugs exist at the intersection of the criminalization of gender, poverty, and race. In this training, participants will learn about the child protection system’s impact on Black and Latinx women and families at birth and beyond, and how these issues are situated within a broader reproductive justice framework. The program will explore the ways in which the system responds to cases involving allegations of parents’ or children’s positive toxicologies at birth for legal and illegal substances, often resulting in family separation and disruption of parent-child bonds. It will explore the historic connections between the War on Drugs and the child welfare system’s intervention into the lives of predominantly low-income people of color. It will provide an overview of strategies for litigating such cases in family court, including state and federal laws regarding mandatory reporting, family court prosecution, and family separation. It will also familiarize participants with scientific data on the impacts of prenatal drug use on health outcomes.

The program is taught by Miriam Mack and Elizabeth Tuttle Newman, attorneys from the Bronx Defender's family defense practice. The Bronx Defenders is a holistic public defender organization, and the course reflects the viewpoints of attorneys who are working on the defense side in criminal court and child removal proceedings.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the connection between the War on Drugs and child welfare intervention
2. Examine the reproductive justice implications of current laws
3. Challenge implicit biases surrounding drug use and pregnancy, and learn about scientific studies on drug use, pregnancy, and attachment theory
4. Discuss strategies for litigating cases involving suspected drug use during pregnancy
5. Gain familiarity with federal and state laws impacting mandated reporting and child welfare prosecution