The death of a 10-year-old Oʻahu girl who officials say was abused and starved by her legal guardians has sent shockwaves across the state. Her guardians appeared in court this week to face charges of neglect, abuse and murder.
Police said Geanna Bradley died last month. She was reportedly taken out of public school to be home-schooled, just like 6-year-old Isabella "Ariel" Kalua. Police believe Kalua was killed by her adoptive parents in Waimānalo in 2021.
State legislators are calling for new laws to save other children from falling through the cracks.
Dorothy Roberts is a professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a critic of the American child welfare system.
"This is just one example of a child who was harmed after the system took her from her home. As far as I could tell from the father who was interviewed, she would have been better off in his care than in the care of these people who abused her," Roberts said.
"Often the system is quick to remove children, to blame family caregivers for children's unmet needs — but not so quick to supervise what's happening to the children after they're taken from their home."
Roberts said the removal of children from their family homes is deeply entangled in poverty. She said most children are in the foster system on grounds of neglect, which is defined as a failure to provide a material need like clothing or food.
She also said Black and Indigenous children are far more likely to be taken from their homes.
"If you have a family that's houseless and they need a home, the answer isn't to take their children away from them. The answer is to provide affordable housing for people. And so this system not only harms the children who are taken from their families, but it also diverts our attention from how we should be supporting families," she added.
Roberts will give a talk Friday at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as part of the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series. She also shares more in her latest book, "Torn Apart."
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 13, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
