Child Protective Services as Gateway and Gatekeeper in the New Welfare State

Abstract

Research demonstrates that providing material aid to families can prevent child maltreatment and involvement with the child welfare system. In this context, momentum is growing for child welfare agencies to supplement a limited safety net by providing resources themselves. Drawing on qualitative research in two case study sites, Connecticut and New York City, this article examines whether and how child welfare agencies seek to address families’ material needs and how agency administrators, staff, and impacted parents understand these efforts. We find that these agencies serve as gateways to concrete support for families across a range of domains, as well as gatekeepers that determine which families receive aid. However, placing child welfare agencies—which are oriented around parental risks and empowered to separate children—in this role can undermine well-intended efforts to provide assistance.