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Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services―Notes of a Former Caseworker – A Groundbreaking Investigation of Systemic Racism in Foster Care and Black Families
Joining the ranks of Evicted and The New Jim Crow , a former caseworker’s searing, clear-eyed investigation of the child welfare system—from foster care to incarceration—that exposes the deep-rooted biases shaping the system, witnessed through the lives of several Black families. Dr. Jessica Pryce knows the child welfare system firsthand and, in this long overdue book, breaks it down from the inside out, sharing her professional journey and offering the crucial perspectives of caseworkers and Black women impacted by the system. It is a groundbreaking and eye-opening confrontation of the inherent and systemic racism deeply entrenched within the child welfare system. Pryce started her social work career with an internship where she was committed to helping keep children safe. In the book, she walks alongside her close friends and even her family as they navigate the system, while sharing her own reckoning with the requirements of her job and her role in the systemic harm. Through poignant narratives and introspection, readers witness the harrowing effects of a well-intentioned workforce that has lost its way, demonstrating how separations are often not in a child’s best interests. With a renewed commitment to strengthening families in her role as activist, Pryce invites the child welfare workforce to embark on a journey of self-reflection and radical growth. At once a framework for transforming child protective services and an intimate, stunning first-hand account of the system as it currently operates, Broken takes everyday scenarios as its focus rather than extreme child welfare cases, challenging readers to critically examine their own mindsets and biases in order to reimagine how we help families in need.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2024
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4932 people want to read
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August 1, 2025
A quick read on an important topic, that I have to rate low because I ended it less convinced than I began. Child Protective Services (CPS) as currently operated in the U.S. has a lot of problems, from the difficulty of distinguishing between neglect and poverty, to the tendency to impose over-the-top community standards that can even hurt kids. But this author’s focus is entirely on the fact that parents find being investigated by CPS distressing and that the system is especially hard on Black parents. There’s no analysis of what’s best for kids.
There are also no real proposals for change, I suspect because the author is not being fully honest about her position. Her general slant and the fact that she speaks at “abolish CPS” rallies suggest that she thinks the system should be abolished, but she provides absolutely no analysis of what might replace it, blowing off concerns about abuse and neglect with the argument that most of what’s investigated isn’t that important. Keep in mind that approximately 2000 children die annually in the U.S. due to maltreatment, mostly by their parents, and this statistic obviously does not capture all the abuse and neglect that ends in lifelong trauma rather than death (such as child sexual abuse). The author doesn’t reckon with this because she doesn’t own the proposal to abolish CPS, and instead vaguely suggests that caseworkers should be more empathetic to parents and work as a team with them. She offers no specifics on how to accomplish this, nor on how to address her concerns that CPS is coercive—which seems pretty well baked in; it’s hard to see how you can protect children from their parents (especially in the worst cases) while sticking strictly to actions the parents freely consent to.
Jessica Pryce was herself a CPS worker in Florida after obtaining her degree in social work, and her story is quite interesting, as are those she presents. However, I found the claim that “none of the [families] in this book” needed intervention quite wrong. (OK, she actually says “Black mothers” rather than “families,” which is an accurate reflection of her focus overall.) In some of the cases the agency was overzealous, and it would’ve been interesting to get some analysis of where things went off the rails and what needs to change to stop that happening again, but the author treats them all as horror stories from start to finish. Here are the four primary situations she describes:
1) Her first case, in which a mother was reported for neglect of her baby and two children ages 5 and 7. When the author and her supervisor visit the home, used diapers are overflowing the trash can and strewn about the yard. They can barely open the door to the kids’ room. The school-aged kids are bringing roaches to school in their bags and have untreated ringworm. They’re only getting to school at all because the 7-year-old is parenting himself and his younger sister. The mom, who has no support from other adults, is hostile to CPS and shows no signs of wanting to remedy the situation.
CPS removes the kids from the home and places them with their grandmother, while offering services to the mother to improve her situation. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work out well, because the grandmother lives too far away to get the kids to school (last the author heard, the plan was switching them to a licensed foster home), and the mother—who seems severely depressed—lacks the wherewithal to follow through on cleaning up her act to get the kids home.
2) A case on which the author consulted as an expert, involving a baby who was born prematurely with significant health issues. A month after taking him home, the mother brings him back to the hospital with seizures, and medical testing shows multiple skull fractures. Neither parent can explain how this happened. As a precaution while investigating, CPS puts the baby and his toddler brother in the care of the mother’s parents. The mother moves in to help, which CPS is fine with, but the parents are supposed to be supervised by her mother and stepfather at all times. This blows up within 3 days because the father is hostile to being supervised and threatens the stepfather. CPS puts the kids in foster care.
This case is a horror story in a lot of ways because CPS never changes course, despite the mother doing everything right, and ultimately terminates her rights to both children, allowing their adoption by the foster parents. However, CPS wasn’t wrong to be concerned. It turns out the skull fractures resulted from the father dropping the baby on his head and then hiding it, even when the baby was rushed to the ER (he didn’t admit it until two years later). But instead of analyzing the system failure here, the author focuses on red herrings, heavily implying before the truth is revealed that the problem is CPS believing the doctors that the fractures resulted from head trauma, and blaming the “rigid” stepfather for enforcing the supervision rule.
3) The author’s sister, whom she reports to CPS because the sister is in an abusive marriage. One night, the sister calls the author to say that her husband has left, threatening to come back with a gun and kill her. She nonetheless refuses to leave or call the cops. They have 3 kids under the age of 7 in the home. CPS offers the sister services, and her husband gets arrested for making threats.
That’s it, that’s the whole story, but the sister is mad at the author for reporting her and doesn’t feel the services are truly voluntary. The author regrets the damage to their relationship and blames CPS.
4) The author’s best friend, who is caring for her 4-year-old goddaughter after the goddaughter’s mother leaves the state with her other six kids. The friend, a college student paying her own way, struggles to balance school and work (especially as she must take on more hours to pay for daycare) with the care of a young child now with abandonment issues, who acts out at the daycare. One night after the child has acted out and the daycare threatened expulsion, the friend beats the child with a belt, leaving bruises on her arms and legs.
CPS puts the child in foster care while attempting to return her to her mother, but when that doesn’t work out and the godmother completes parenting classes, they ultimately facilitate her adoption of the goddaughter. The removal was perhaps unnecessary here since the friend was honest and willing to change (and her getting charged with felony child abuse was over-the-top). But this is way beyond a “spanking,” for which the author turns into a complete apologist, without questioning whether a traumatized 4-year-old is even developmentally capable of altering her behavior at daycare to avoid getting whupped at home, or what effects this is likely to have on her long-term.
Here's what the author does have to say about spanking:
“About 17 percent of the cases that come into the child protective services system are categorized as physical abuse, yet it’s important to note that physical abuse is most likely to occur during a disciplinary attempt. Some believe that physical abuse is most commonly an intentional and willful act, but on the contrary, it most often occurs when a parent is using their chosen form of discipline.”
Aside from the fact that the writing itself is not great (true throughout the book), this makes no sense. Injuring a kid is okay as long as the parent calls it “discipline”? Discipline is unintentional and beyond the control of the parent? Come on, who beats their kid without claiming it’s the kid’s fault?
There’s assorted other weirdness, like claiming any family where the child runs to hug the parent at visitation is obviously fine (no, kids are just wired that way), and that only about 10% of reports resulting in verified findings of abuse or neglect means people shouldn’t make reports. (What? Of course not everything can be proven, and it’s not the job of the neighbor, teacher, etc., to conduct CPS’s investigation and analysis themselves. The number of unverified cases will also be inflated by people who make malicious reports about their exes, want their neighbors to parent differently, etc., which is not the system’s fault. If anything, the fact that 90% of reports end in no action seems like a counterargument to many of the author’s complaints about CPS overstepping.)
At any rate, while it was interesting to read the author’s experiences, I finished the book having to remind myself that CPS really does need serious reform, that there really is a need to devote more resources to keeping families together, because reading this had me thinking “maybe it’s not so bad, actually.” So ultimately quite counterproductive despite some engaging storytelling.
There are also no real proposals for change, I suspect because the author is not being fully honest about her position. Her general slant and the fact that she speaks at “abolish CPS” rallies suggest that she thinks the system should be abolished, but she provides absolutely no analysis of what might replace it, blowing off concerns about abuse and neglect with the argument that most of what’s investigated isn’t that important. Keep in mind that approximately 2000 children die annually in the U.S. due to maltreatment, mostly by their parents, and this statistic obviously does not capture all the abuse and neglect that ends in lifelong trauma rather than death (such as child sexual abuse). The author doesn’t reckon with this because she doesn’t own the proposal to abolish CPS, and instead vaguely suggests that caseworkers should be more empathetic to parents and work as a team with them. She offers no specifics on how to accomplish this, nor on how to address her concerns that CPS is coercive—which seems pretty well baked in; it’s hard to see how you can protect children from their parents (especially in the worst cases) while sticking strictly to actions the parents freely consent to.
Jessica Pryce was herself a CPS worker in Florida after obtaining her degree in social work, and her story is quite interesting, as are those she presents. However, I found the claim that “none of the [families] in this book” needed intervention quite wrong. (OK, she actually says “Black mothers” rather than “families,” which is an accurate reflection of her focus overall.) In some of the cases the agency was overzealous, and it would’ve been interesting to get some analysis of where things went off the rails and what needs to change to stop that happening again, but the author treats them all as horror stories from start to finish. Here are the four primary situations she describes:
1) Her first case, in which a mother was reported for neglect of her baby and two children ages 5 and 7. When the author and her supervisor visit the home, used diapers are overflowing the trash can and strewn about the yard. They can barely open the door to the kids’ room. The school-aged kids are bringing roaches to school in their bags and have untreated ringworm. They’re only getting to school at all because the 7-year-old is parenting himself and his younger sister. The mom, who has no support from other adults, is hostile to CPS and shows no signs of wanting to remedy the situation.
CPS removes the kids from the home and places them with their grandmother, while offering services to the mother to improve her situation. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work out well, because the grandmother lives too far away to get the kids to school (last the author heard, the plan was switching them to a licensed foster home), and the mother—who seems severely depressed—lacks the wherewithal to follow through on cleaning up her act to get the kids home.
2) A case on which the author consulted as an expert, involving a baby who was born prematurely with significant health issues. A month after taking him home, the mother brings him back to the hospital with seizures, and medical testing shows multiple skull fractures. Neither parent can explain how this happened. As a precaution while investigating, CPS puts the baby and his toddler brother in the care of the mother’s parents. The mother moves in to help, which CPS is fine with, but the parents are supposed to be supervised by her mother and stepfather at all times. This blows up within 3 days because the father is hostile to being supervised and threatens the stepfather. CPS puts the kids in foster care.
This case is a horror story in a lot of ways because CPS never changes course, despite the mother doing everything right, and ultimately terminates her rights to both children, allowing their adoption by the foster parents. However, CPS wasn’t wrong to be concerned. It turns out the skull fractures resulted from the father dropping the baby on his head and then hiding it, even when the baby was rushed to the ER (he didn’t admit it until two years later). But instead of analyzing the system failure here, the author focuses on red herrings, heavily implying before the truth is revealed that the problem is CPS believing the doctors that the fractures resulted from head trauma, and blaming the “rigid” stepfather for enforcing the supervision rule.
3) The author’s sister, whom she reports to CPS because the sister is in an abusive marriage. One night, the sister calls the author to say that her husband has left, threatening to come back with a gun and kill her. She nonetheless refuses to leave or call the cops. They have 3 kids under the age of 7 in the home. CPS offers the sister services, and her husband gets arrested for making threats.
That’s it, that’s the whole story, but the sister is mad at the author for reporting her and doesn’t feel the services are truly voluntary. The author regrets the damage to their relationship and blames CPS.
4) The author’s best friend, who is caring for her 4-year-old goddaughter after the goddaughter’s mother leaves the state with her other six kids. The friend, a college student paying her own way, struggles to balance school and work (especially as she must take on more hours to pay for daycare) with the care of a young child now with abandonment issues, who acts out at the daycare. One night after the child has acted out and the daycare threatened expulsion, the friend beats the child with a belt, leaving bruises on her arms and legs.
CPS puts the child in foster care while attempting to return her to her mother, but when that doesn’t work out and the godmother completes parenting classes, they ultimately facilitate her adoption of the goddaughter. The removal was perhaps unnecessary here since the friend was honest and willing to change (and her getting charged with felony child abuse was over-the-top). But this is way beyond a “spanking,” for which the author turns into a complete apologist, without questioning whether a traumatized 4-year-old is even developmentally capable of altering her behavior at daycare to avoid getting whupped at home, or what effects this is likely to have on her long-term.
Here's what the author does have to say about spanking:
“About 17 percent of the cases that come into the child protective services system are categorized as physical abuse, yet it’s important to note that physical abuse is most likely to occur during a disciplinary attempt. Some believe that physical abuse is most commonly an intentional and willful act, but on the contrary, it most often occurs when a parent is using their chosen form of discipline.”
Aside from the fact that the writing itself is not great (true throughout the book), this makes no sense. Injuring a kid is okay as long as the parent calls it “discipline”? Discipline is unintentional and beyond the control of the parent? Come on, who beats their kid without claiming it’s the kid’s fault?
There’s assorted other weirdness, like claiming any family where the child runs to hug the parent at visitation is obviously fine (no, kids are just wired that way), and that only about 10% of reports resulting in verified findings of abuse or neglect means people shouldn’t make reports. (What? Of course not everything can be proven, and it’s not the job of the neighbor, teacher, etc., to conduct CPS’s investigation and analysis themselves. The number of unverified cases will also be inflated by people who make malicious reports about their exes, want their neighbors to parent differently, etc., which is not the system’s fault. If anything, the fact that 90% of reports end in no action seems like a counterargument to many of the author’s complaints about CPS overstepping.)
At any rate, while it was interesting to read the author’s experiences, I finished the book having to remind myself that CPS really does need serious reform, that there really is a need to devote more resources to keeping families together, because reading this had me thinking “maybe it’s not so bad, actually.” So ultimately quite counterproductive despite some engaging storytelling.
August 21, 2024
As much as people believe that social workers sole reason for existing is to remove children from "unfit" homes, you'd be surprised to know that in MSW programs you don't actually learn much about child welfare (unless that is your speciality). I learned more from this novel about child protective services than I have during my first year in my program. I would greatly recommend this book not only to my social work friends, but also to faculty teaching within colleges of social work. In my program, we read The New Jim Crow and Evicted and this book is completely rank with those books. Similarly to those books, there are examples of how racism disproportionately impacts black women at much higher rates than their white counterparts. One of the best example of this in this novel is when CPS requires a mother to get a GED as one of the many steps to get her children back. At that point, Jessica reflects that her own father didn't have a GED, and was still a loving parent. Barriers like these set up black parents to fail. There is a lot of reflection of how CPS treats white families vs black and how white mothers can make mistakes, but black mothers cannot.
Jessica's writing about her real life experience, from intern to Ph.D work, was insightful. I think a lot of people in the social work field can relate to the feeling of being an intern and doing the work, assuming that it is the right thing to do, until it happens to you. I greatly appreciate Jessica telling the stories not only of people within her own caseload, but also in her personal life. Throughout the novel, without actually saying it, Jessica also learns cultural humility as a CPS worker. There should be no standard for the way that a family, "should" live. What we perceive as "unfit" is actually just a different way of living, especially when it comes to other cultures.
Jessica's writing about her real life experience, from intern to Ph.D work, was insightful. I think a lot of people in the social work field can relate to the feeling of being an intern and doing the work, assuming that it is the right thing to do, until it happens to you. I greatly appreciate Jessica telling the stories not only of people within her own caseload, but also in her personal life. Throughout the novel, without actually saying it, Jessica also learns cultural humility as a CPS worker. There should be no standard for the way that a family, "should" live. What we perceive as "unfit" is actually just a different way of living, especially when it comes to other cultures.
June 30, 2024
This was not the best choice in terms of my intention to avoid lots of work-related reading outside of work - and in summer! But, we need many more books on this topic and this one is an important addition. It’s no Evicted - I would compare it more to a very good expanded Ted Talk - but it is still a valuable contribution to the literature in this field and especially in its ability to shed light on how persons/families/children of color, and/or who are experiencing economic disadvantage, and/or who are affected by intimate partner violence, all suffer more at the hands of this flawed, blind-spot-ridden system intended to protect children from harm. I have seen this happen with such unfortunate frequency and consistency during my decade of intimate partner violence intervention and advocacy work that has often been adjacent to or has intersected with the work of CPS. While protecting children is critical and something I care for passionately, the inequitable treatment of cases and systemic bias is clearly evident and undeniable. May whatever powers above bless the well-intentioned and reflective CPS workers who endeavor to do the work compassionately and safely in every sense despite the constraints and limitations of the current system - and special blessings to those like the author who endeavor to revision and reform it altogether.
March 30, 2024
This is a well-written book. And the author deserves to be commended for her gift of story-telling.
I want to go beyond the heart wrenching descriptions in order to critique this book properly.
If this book had been written by parents who were negatively affected by CPS, I might have given it five stars. But the fact that it was written by a former insider makes me reluctant to rate it so highly. Why?
I expected an inside analysis of how CPS actually works. It is all well and good telling stories of those who were negatively affected. It is all well and good talking about how it negatively impacts black people more. But what I wanted to know is why the author became an activist against the CPS based on a proper analysis of their procedures. That is: what happens when they get a report? How do they judge the credibility of the parents. Is their a weight given to different kinds of report? Given that the CPS, according to the author, is still needed to protect children who are in danger, how does a case worker judge which case is which?
There is a high level talk about internal structural faults in CPS, but not about how those faults manifest in actual decision making by the case workers. If you are a parent reading this book, this is what you want to know. If you are ever reported (fairly or unfairly), what are the dispositions you would expect in the child welfare officer that will be sent to you?
She writes that CPS did not hold the relationships
between children and parents as a sacred connection. Moreover, CPS was
rarely equitable. The system simply did not account for the structural
disparities that some families face.. Fair enough. I still want to know how the CPS can change to hold the connection between parents and children as sacred and still fulfill their duty of ensuring the welfare of the children they believe are in need of protection.
I want to go beyond the heart wrenching descriptions in order to critique this book properly.
If this book had been written by parents who were negatively affected by CPS, I might have given it five stars. But the fact that it was written by a former insider makes me reluctant to rate it so highly. Why?
I expected an inside analysis of how CPS actually works. It is all well and good telling stories of those who were negatively affected. It is all well and good talking about how it negatively impacts black people more. But what I wanted to know is why the author became an activist against the CPS based on a proper analysis of their procedures. That is: what happens when they get a report? How do they judge the credibility of the parents. Is their a weight given to different kinds of report? Given that the CPS, according to the author, is still needed to protect children who are in danger, how does a case worker judge which case is which?
There is a high level talk about internal structural faults in CPS, but not about how those faults manifest in actual decision making by the case workers. If you are a parent reading this book, this is what you want to know. If you are ever reported (fairly or unfairly), what are the dispositions you would expect in the child welfare officer that will be sent to you?
She writes that CPS did not hold the relationships
between children and parents as a sacred connection. Moreover, CPS was
rarely equitable. The system simply did not account for the structural
disparities that some families face.. Fair enough. I still want to know how the CPS can change to hold the connection between parents and children as sacred and still fulfill their duty of ensuring the welfare of the children they believe are in need of protection.
March 3, 2024
I first heard about this book being published on the Nobody Should Believe Me podcast with host Andrea Dunlop. I followed the Maya Kowalski trial that is discussed in that podcast, and the case was very briefly mentioned in this book.
I come at this from a different side, as a former state approved foster/adoptive parent. I was truly interested to hear Jessica's views from the inside of CPS. We can all imagine how it works, how it's run on the inside, the policies, the procedures, the workings of a permanency plan, etc. We all know this system is broken. The social workers and investigators are overworked and burned out. That alone should be red flags that the system is broken and change needs to happen now. The system should not run the same for every call and every family. No two calls are the same. Every family and every situation is different.
I will say that from my pov in a different city & state than Jessica, in every foster parent training class, we (my husband and fellow foster parents) were told the goal is and always will be reunification, if not with the parents, at least with biological family members. We were told this by our social workers, case workers, attorneys, GAL, etc. We were encouraged to interact with the biological family of foster placements and praise them when they would accomplish a goal on the perm. plan and reassure them that their child was doing okay despite the interruption of their home life. I wanted so badly to be an encouragement to our bio families, to interact with them, and let them know we were in their corner. Bio families need better support. Don't judge a family without all the facts. Don't assume every family should be condemned because that is absolutely not the case. Unfortunately, we never had a case while our home was open that we were able to do that. We chose to close our home after our adoption. Fostering is not for the faint of heart. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.
I think people assume the children are just fine being ripped from their parents or biological families and placed with strangers. Many say "oh they're loved and fed, clothed, in school, and want for nothing," but that's not true at all. Children are very loyal to their parents regardless of any wrong being done or going on in the home. Many have behavioral and mental health issues from this upheaval in their lives, on top of any trauma experienced to warrant a removal from their home.
I appreciate the inside views of how CPS works, at least in the state of Florida. These stories Jessica shares will break your heart. Some will downright make you angry. The system as a whole needs change, and we all need to be pushing for that change. It's devastating to think that you take your child to the ER for help by professionals, and your child is removed from your care and placed with strangers.
I realize that there are very real situations of abuse, neglect, medical neglect, abandonment, etc., and most certainly, the safety of the children is the most important, but the plan shouldn't be the same for every family. It needs to be made based on the needs of that family. Bio families need support.
I don't have a solution for the issues within CPS. It's just not that simple. I get that. Jessica is on to something, and I just hope change is coming.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amistad for the e-ARC. This one has tough subject matter for sure, but it needs to be read by everyone.
I come at this from a different side, as a former state approved foster/adoptive parent. I was truly interested to hear Jessica's views from the inside of CPS. We can all imagine how it works, how it's run on the inside, the policies, the procedures, the workings of a permanency plan, etc. We all know this system is broken. The social workers and investigators are overworked and burned out. That alone should be red flags that the system is broken and change needs to happen now. The system should not run the same for every call and every family. No two calls are the same. Every family and every situation is different.
I will say that from my pov in a different city & state than Jessica, in every foster parent training class, we (my husband and fellow foster parents) were told the goal is and always will be reunification, if not with the parents, at least with biological family members. We were told this by our social workers, case workers, attorneys, GAL, etc. We were encouraged to interact with the biological family of foster placements and praise them when they would accomplish a goal on the perm. plan and reassure them that their child was doing okay despite the interruption of their home life. I wanted so badly to be an encouragement to our bio families, to interact with them, and let them know we were in their corner. Bio families need better support. Don't judge a family without all the facts. Don't assume every family should be condemned because that is absolutely not the case. Unfortunately, we never had a case while our home was open that we were able to do that. We chose to close our home after our adoption. Fostering is not for the faint of heart. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.
I think people assume the children are just fine being ripped from their parents or biological families and placed with strangers. Many say "oh they're loved and fed, clothed, in school, and want for nothing," but that's not true at all. Children are very loyal to their parents regardless of any wrong being done or going on in the home. Many have behavioral and mental health issues from this upheaval in their lives, on top of any trauma experienced to warrant a removal from their home.
I appreciate the inside views of how CPS works, at least in the state of Florida. These stories Jessica shares will break your heart. Some will downright make you angry. The system as a whole needs change, and we all need to be pushing for that change. It's devastating to think that you take your child to the ER for help by professionals, and your child is removed from your care and placed with strangers.
I realize that there are very real situations of abuse, neglect, medical neglect, abandonment, etc., and most certainly, the safety of the children is the most important, but the plan shouldn't be the same for every family. It needs to be made based on the needs of that family. Bio families need support.
I don't have a solution for the issues within CPS. It's just not that simple. I get that. Jessica is on to something, and I just hope change is coming.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amistad for the e-ARC. This one has tough subject matter for sure, but it needs to be read by everyone.
August 7, 2025
2.5/5
This is a very helpful perspective from a former practitioner turned activist. The relationship between her and her friend as her friend became caught up in a CPS case was by far the most compelling part of the book.
That said, this book doesn't thread the needle on transformation. Pryce talks a lot of some dismantling and some reformation of CPS, but she's never very specific. It's not clear to me what she thinks should have happened in an ideal scenario with some of the cases she described. I completely agree with her critiques of how the system operates and how the stress it puts on families can lead to worse outcomes for kids. I just don't think she goes deep enough.
This is a very helpful perspective from a former practitioner turned activist. The relationship between her and her friend as her friend became caught up in a CPS case was by far the most compelling part of the book.
That said, this book doesn't thread the needle on transformation. Pryce talks a lot of some dismantling and some reformation of CPS, but she's never very specific. It's not clear to me what she thinks should have happened in an ideal scenario with some of the cases she described. I completely agree with her critiques of how the system operates and how the stress it puts on families can lead to worse outcomes for kids. I just don't think she goes deep enough.
September 5, 2024
Overall I liked this book. I think it is well written and I think it does a good job at getting to the heart of a lot of the problems with child protective services. I think where it's working the best is when it's creating empathy for biological parents and really giving you their perspectives.
Where I am more conflicted about this book is I wish it talked more about what changes could actually be made. There's a small section at the end of the book that is dedicated to this. Most of it however is couched in metaphor. It talks about how CPS is like a Jenga Tower and ultimately if you keep trying to reform it you're just going to end up with an endlessly more shaky foundation. It calls to abolish CPS as a system because it does more harm than good.
I feel like given the author has given many talks and teaches classes and works with professionals. I wish they would have dedicated more than just a small section to what the replacement could actually be. If this book is dedicated to child welfare workers how can they work within the system to create reform? What reforms would the author like to see in the system in the meantime? If there was a replacement from the bottom up what would that even look like?
I think it's overall worth a read and I think it's succeeds at giving a perspective and creating empathy. I was just left with more questions than answers.
Where I am more conflicted about this book is I wish it talked more about what changes could actually be made. There's a small section at the end of the book that is dedicated to this. Most of it however is couched in metaphor. It talks about how CPS is like a Jenga Tower and ultimately if you keep trying to reform it you're just going to end up with an endlessly more shaky foundation. It calls to abolish CPS as a system because it does more harm than good.
I feel like given the author has given many talks and teaches classes and works with professionals. I wish they would have dedicated more than just a small section to what the replacement could actually be. If this book is dedicated to child welfare workers how can they work within the system to create reform? What reforms would the author like to see in the system in the meantime? If there was a replacement from the bottom up what would that even look like?
I think it's overall worth a read and I think it's succeeds at giving a perspective and creating empathy. I was just left with more questions than answers.
September 1, 2024
"Ultimately, I wrote a book that shows the internal and conflicting struggles of carrying child abuse cases, how those cases are experienced by Black women, and the emotional and moral toll that it takes on everyone involved." (p. 229) This is an accurate description of most of the book, which contains stories of Black women interacting with child protective services, mainly in Florida. These stories are compelling, and allow the reader to step into the shoes of people who would otherwise be invisible, flattened, or caricatured in the media. I fully support this endeavor.
Having said that, I do have one quarrel with the way the author tells her own story. By her own admission, she participated in a program that paid for her MSW, plus a stipend, provided she completed an internship with CPS and then worked for them for at least one year after graduating. She completed her MSW in 2009, worked for CPS for the requisite one year, and then began her PhD in 2010. Based on application deadlines and the amount of time required to apply to PhD programs, she must have applied in 2009. Yet, she portrays her decision to leave CPS as occurring in 2010, after a panic attack that followed her best friend being arrested for allegedly abusing a child in her care. This kind of dramatic revelation is a better story than following through on a long-term plan, but it strikes me as, at best, an oversimplification. This is ironic because the author herself accuses CPS of recording a "narrow, oversimplified view of a complex and desperate" story (p. 175).
I admit that this is a minor issue, but I bring it up because so much of the book is based on stories. The author almost never uses data, and when she does, she doesn't do it well. On page 184, she writes, "Child welfare has four million calls per year, approximately ten thousand cases reported daily to abuse hotlines across the country." She ends this paragraph by saying, "Given the sheer volume of calls and cases, it is no wonder the workforce is crumbling." That's not logical. According to Investing.com, McDonald's reported that it sold 6.48 million burgers per day in 2021, but that doesn't mean that its "workforce is crumbling." To connect the dots, we need further data on how many people are answering the calls, how many hours they work per week, what their salaries are, etc.
In addition to data, this book also lacks a great deal of context:
-The author never provides a history of child protective services. She makes reference to what was essentially the kidnapping of children of color by the state, but doesn't provide any details. (At this point, I want to make clear that I am not denying that this kidnapping occurred. I would like MORE information about these atrocities, including the forced assimilation of Indigenous children.)
-She doesn't sufficiently acknowledge the American legal context in which these cases exist. On page 206, she writes, "The attorney's role was to do all he could to see to it that their legal journey was a fair one," but I would dispute this. We have an adversarial legal system in which an attorney's job is to advocate for their client. Their goal is not fairness. In fact, an attorney who defended their client less vigorously out of fairness to the opposition would be considered as not doing their job. This comes up again on page 233, when the author writes, "The commitment to strengthening families should be CPS's ultimate, if not singular, goal." CPS stands for "child protective services"; their job is to advocate for the child's interests, which may be in opposition to the parents'.
-The author doesn't fully address the role of the media. In a 2017 New Yorker article, Larissa MacFarquhar writes that "after a gruesome and highly publicized murder of a child, people in child protection got very jittery and very cautious. More calls came in to the hotline, A.C.S. [Administration for Children’s Services] filed for more removals, and judges were more likely to grant them." CPS is a public entity, and must respond to the public, which is swayed by high-profile cases.
-The author ultimately portrays CPS as a villain, without considering why it operates as it does. Returning to the paragraph on page 184 that I mentioned earlier, the author writes, "Those calls included seven million children and resulted in six hundred thousand verified cases of abuse." That's a lot of abuse! She goes on to say, "This accounts for less than 10 percent of all reported calls." I understand her critique that most calls are false positives, but she's not even acknowledging the harm of false negatives.
-There is no consideration of politics. In a 2023 New Yorker article, Larissa MacFarquhar writes that the only thing preventing some women from keeping babies that they are putting up for adoption is a few thousand dollars. When I read this, I was immediately convinced that supporting parents--financially, socially, mentally, whatever--was preferable to removing children. However, I am also mindful of the fact that Republicans vehemently oppose essentially all services for poor people generally and poor women specifically.
Ultimately, if this book were just about stories, I would consider it a success. It's decidedly not, though. It includes a "Developmental Framework for Child Welfare Professionals and Community Partners", encouraging them to change the way they work; "Case-Based Discussion Questions and Conversation Prompts", encouraging child welfare professionals to change the systems in which they work; and "Considerations Before Reporting to CPS", which essentially discourage people from reporting to CPS. Clearly, the author is targeting people who work in the child welfare system. How much power do they have to effect change, though? Aren't they underpaid and overworked? Don't they face termination and/or legal action for not following policies?
Overall, this book brings important stories to light, but it's way underbaked in terms of argumentation.
Having said that, I do have one quarrel with the way the author tells her own story. By her own admission, she participated in a program that paid for her MSW, plus a stipend, provided she completed an internship with CPS and then worked for them for at least one year after graduating. She completed her MSW in 2009, worked for CPS for the requisite one year, and then began her PhD in 2010. Based on application deadlines and the amount of time required to apply to PhD programs, she must have applied in 2009. Yet, she portrays her decision to leave CPS as occurring in 2010, after a panic attack that followed her best friend being arrested for allegedly abusing a child in her care. This kind of dramatic revelation is a better story than following through on a long-term plan, but it strikes me as, at best, an oversimplification. This is ironic because the author herself accuses CPS of recording a "narrow, oversimplified view of a complex and desperate" story (p. 175).
I admit that this is a minor issue, but I bring it up because so much of the book is based on stories. The author almost never uses data, and when she does, she doesn't do it well. On page 184, she writes, "Child welfare has four million calls per year, approximately ten thousand cases reported daily to abuse hotlines across the country." She ends this paragraph by saying, "Given the sheer volume of calls and cases, it is no wonder the workforce is crumbling." That's not logical. According to Investing.com, McDonald's reported that it sold 6.48 million burgers per day in 2021, but that doesn't mean that its "workforce is crumbling." To connect the dots, we need further data on how many people are answering the calls, how many hours they work per week, what their salaries are, etc.
In addition to data, this book also lacks a great deal of context:
-The author never provides a history of child protective services. She makes reference to what was essentially the kidnapping of children of color by the state, but doesn't provide any details. (At this point, I want to make clear that I am not denying that this kidnapping occurred. I would like MORE information about these atrocities, including the forced assimilation of Indigenous children.)
-She doesn't sufficiently acknowledge the American legal context in which these cases exist. On page 206, she writes, "The attorney's role was to do all he could to see to it that their legal journey was a fair one," but I would dispute this. We have an adversarial legal system in which an attorney's job is to advocate for their client. Their goal is not fairness. In fact, an attorney who defended their client less vigorously out of fairness to the opposition would be considered as not doing their job. This comes up again on page 233, when the author writes, "The commitment to strengthening families should be CPS's ultimate, if not singular, goal." CPS stands for "child protective services"; their job is to advocate for the child's interests, which may be in opposition to the parents'.
-The author doesn't fully address the role of the media. In a 2017 New Yorker article, Larissa MacFarquhar writes that "after a gruesome and highly publicized murder of a child, people in child protection got very jittery and very cautious. More calls came in to the hotline, A.C.S. [Administration for Children’s Services] filed for more removals, and judges were more likely to grant them." CPS is a public entity, and must respond to the public, which is swayed by high-profile cases.
-The author ultimately portrays CPS as a villain, without considering why it operates as it does. Returning to the paragraph on page 184 that I mentioned earlier, the author writes, "Those calls included seven million children and resulted in six hundred thousand verified cases of abuse." That's a lot of abuse! She goes on to say, "This accounts for less than 10 percent of all reported calls." I understand her critique that most calls are false positives, but she's not even acknowledging the harm of false negatives.
-There is no consideration of politics. In a 2023 New Yorker article, Larissa MacFarquhar writes that the only thing preventing some women from keeping babies that they are putting up for adoption is a few thousand dollars. When I read this, I was immediately convinced that supporting parents--financially, socially, mentally, whatever--was preferable to removing children. However, I am also mindful of the fact that Republicans vehemently oppose essentially all services for poor people generally and poor women specifically.
Ultimately, if this book were just about stories, I would consider it a success. It's decidedly not, though. It includes a "Developmental Framework for Child Welfare Professionals and Community Partners", encouraging them to change the way they work; "Case-Based Discussion Questions and Conversation Prompts", encouraging child welfare professionals to change the systems in which they work; and "Considerations Before Reporting to CPS", which essentially discourage people from reporting to CPS. Clearly, the author is targeting people who work in the child welfare system. How much power do they have to effect change, though? Aren't they underpaid and overworked? Don't they face termination and/or legal action for not following policies?
Overall, this book brings important stories to light, but it's way underbaked in terms of argumentation.
July 6, 2025
The best intentions can’t achieve real results in a broken system. It’s true for CPS and true at a larger scale across many government programs. This was heart breaking and thought provoking.
September 29, 2025
Felt like the author was inside my own head as someone who was previously a caseworker and is still working within the system in a different role. Reiterated a lot of conversations had within MSW classes and amongst fellow child welfare professionals about how to change the system for the better. 1000/10 will probably reread again soon!!
March 23, 2024
This book is frightening! To think of how some of these poor women have had their children ripped from them. I’ve seen parents who needed their kids taken away and nothing gets done. Want to know a secret? They were all white.
I wonder how many kids are failed from CPS. I am a mandated reporter myself. Sometimes it feels awful to have to report the things I hear but it’s my job. I wish I could do anything to help but then it’s out of my hands.
The story of Jatoia (forgive me if I spelled that incorrectly) hit me the hardest! How absolutely frightening to have your whole world ripped away from you. ALL in things she suffered through. And the fact that this isn’t some story from 1937. Terrible.
This book is very eye opening and I would suggest teachers to read it as well. Some of the story swapping was a bit difficult for me. I really wanted to get to the end of it to see the outcomes.
I wonder how many kids are failed from CPS. I am a mandated reporter myself. Sometimes it feels awful to have to report the things I hear but it’s my job. I wish I could do anything to help but then it’s out of my hands.
The story of Jatoia (forgive me if I spelled that incorrectly) hit me the hardest! How absolutely frightening to have your whole world ripped away from you. ALL in things she suffered through. And the fact that this isn’t some story from 1937. Terrible.
This book is very eye opening and I would suggest teachers to read it as well. Some of the story swapping was a bit difficult for me. I really wanted to get to the end of it to see the outcomes.
February 25, 2025
- brings up important critiques of the CPS system
- if it was a collection of memoirs would've been 5 stars
- all her arguments lacked data which feels important for making claims about systematic inequalities (which i totally would believe exists, but plz even a singular statistic would have been nice)
- also why did this read like a college app essay? some background to sufficiently appeal to ethos was all i needed not really and ode to your internal struggle on pivoting to academia (timeline of which was questionable if the turning point was seeing your friend break down)
- would've been interesting to dig deeper into the argument about the role of medical professionals -- how do you balance their necessity and subjective claims that might carry heavy bias?
- the "standards set by white people by which the CPS builds its foundations on" argument makes sense but wasn't a huge fan of the imagery that vilified some white CPS workers to make a statement about black oppression. like maybe they were horrible people but maybe they were struggling internally just like you were when you were an agent. isn't this book all about having empathy and understanding people in their circumstances? had you had more evidence she didn't have a lick of sympathy i feel like it could've been a great argument for lack of understanding and empathy of both the agents AND the system
- if it was a collection of memoirs would've been 5 stars
- all her arguments lacked data which feels important for making claims about systematic inequalities (which i totally would believe exists, but plz even a singular statistic would have been nice)
- also why did this read like a college app essay? some background to sufficiently appeal to ethos was all i needed not really and ode to your internal struggle on pivoting to academia (timeline of which was questionable if the turning point was seeing your friend break down)
- would've been interesting to dig deeper into the argument about the role of medical professionals -- how do you balance their necessity and subjective claims that might carry heavy bias?
- the "standards set by white people by which the CPS builds its foundations on" argument makes sense but wasn't a huge fan of the imagery that vilified some white CPS workers to make a statement about black oppression. like maybe they were horrible people but maybe they were struggling internally just like you were when you were an agent. isn't this book all about having empathy and understanding people in their circumstances? had you had more evidence she didn't have a lick of sympathy i feel like it could've been a great argument for lack of understanding and empathy of both the agents AND the system
April 2, 2024
A much needed book that shines a light on the child welfare system. I used to do work on the legal side of CPS cases and this book is spot on in how that particular system works. Obviously if you’re white and/or live in a more affluent suburb, your chances are much slimmer of having your life impacted by CPS. It’s not because you’re an exceptional parent, the system is just heavily racist and classist. Obviously there are situations where the removal of children from a home is necessary to protect the health and safety of the minors involved, but this ain’t it. The current system needs a revamp and Dr Pryce shows why.
March 18, 2024
I was honored to have an advanced copy. This book will very likely change your way of thinking and your perceptions about foster care and child welfare. We are often filled with preconceived notions about parents who get their children taken from their homes; this book presents the reality for the families on the other side whose stories largely go untold. With years of research and field experience, Dr.Pryce will take you on the front lines of a child welfare worker. I found this book to be highly engaging, opened my mind to new ways of thinking, and encouraged problem solving. A nonfiction page turner with a professional striving for change and doing something about it, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to social workers, foster parents, anyone who works with kids, anyone who believes families are worth fighting for.
February 8, 2025
She clearly articulates what is troubling about the child welfare system. I appreciated her push towards optimistic activism, instead of throwing up her hands and walking away from the broken system. She held my interest throughout the book.
February 10, 2025
This is a much needed, eye-opening book. I would consider this a must-read for anyone involved (even remotely) in child welfare, including teachers, nurses, social workers, and other mandated reporters. I often felt incredulous, indignant, deeply disturbed, and perhaps most importantly, motivated to lend my voice, over the harm our current system causes as presented in the stories in this book. The author does a fabulous job discussing the issues using real stories from her life and work, making the case for change in a digestible way.
February 10, 2025
Read via Audible.
Insightful and eye opening look at the mountain of inadequacies and injustices of America’s child welfare system and the broken home and lives that result from it. Made me sad and angry.
Insightful and eye opening look at the mountain of inadequacies and injustices of America’s child welfare system and the broken home and lives that result from it. Made me sad and angry.
November 5, 2025
I’ve heard people say the CPS system is broken and file that information away, but as someone who’s never had real experience it doesn’t mean much. Eye opening narrative of what people actually mean when they say it and how much change needs to occur
January 19, 2025
Thought provoking and insightful, with some relatable reflections on her time as a baby social worker that made me laugh and sigh.
March 2, 2025
Read for NASW book club
October 7, 2025
DNF at 20%. I think this book could have been really great but was so poorly executed that I have to stop before it’s over. I think the author missed the mark on what she set out to do here.
April 23, 2025
ugh. just getting ready to go back to work :(
July 18, 2025
I’m not sure what I wanted out of this book, but I know I didn’t get it. If you have no familiarity with CPS, this might be an informative and startling read. As someone who has worked with children and families dealing with CPS and CPS itself in Florida (where this book takes place) I didn’t gain much insight, but was instead frustrated by the direction this book took.
The focus felt very narrow and the narrative felt strangely biased at times. Yes, I agree that the child welfare system is incredibly and irrevocably screwed up. But I wanted the author to dig a little deeper and go beyond sharing a few tragic stories and some data points without context. There were times when she acknowledged the nuance and complicated natures of these cases, but overall this just felt very surface level, and at times the manner in which it was written rubbed me the wrong way. The way she celebrated her own activism and accomplishments in the latter half of the book made me uncomfortable.
March 3, 2024
Thank you, NatGalley and Amistad for this advanced readers copy. This was an amazing book told through the lens of the author’s time working as a caseworker in child protective services. CPS is supposed to be a safety net for children when their family is struggling and unable to care for them. Many times due to racism and classism, CPS fails these children. This author shows these programs are routinely underfunded and do not have the resources to properly assess claims and provide support for these families. This book was a wonderful insight into the world of child protective services and how we need to do better for our communities, especially those who really need it.
Read
April 19, 2025DNF at page 80. I had to stop after reading the chapter "The New Jim Crow." For lack of better words, I call bullshit.
In this chapter, we learn that a child is severely injured, potentially to the point that he may not survive, while the dad is at home drunk. This child and his parents are black. Apparently the dad was involved in domestic disturbance in the home a few years back. As a young, naive case worker, she visits the hospital and dad gives her some sob story about how he only had a couple beers and wasn't drunk at all. She makes a point to say that when she talks to the WHITE officer outside the room, the one who was on the scene, he says that the dad was completely and totally drunk. She finds this unbelievable because, gosh, dad is just so nice. If you can't do your job without pre-conceived bias, you need a new job. Pay attention to the child dying in front of you. Don't dismiss the person who was there on the scene because he is white, i.e. a liar.
Here's the thing. I worked in childcare for many, many years. I've testified in court for child abuse cases. I've worked with children who were removed from their home who were burned with cigarettes, had liquor put in their bottles, came to daycare with dried poop on their clothes and bottles with dead flies in them, and on and on. I've worked with kids who have suffered SA and who live(d) in some of the worst places you can imagine. I know someone who reported child abuse and CPS did nothing until the child ended up in the hospital with broken bones and seizures. I've made reports that were never followed up on. You only have to watch the news to wonder how so many kids are being failed by the system. I have also seen a family lose custody of their child temporarily because abuse was suspected and it turned out to be a rare medical condition that was the problem, so I know the system is not perfect. They don't pick and choose what looks like abuse. These kids were white, black, and Hispanic. The one thing they had in common was they all needed help.
CPS is underfunded and employees are overworked. The system is broken but not because of race or ethnicity. In 90% of the cases I've seen, even the horrible ones, those children are returned to their homes. The goal is always reunification. Abuse does not discriminate. If a social worker or police officer goes into a home and they see neglect and abuse, it is their moral and legal duty to do something about it. Children need advocates. You don't get a pass based on the color of your skin.
At the end of the book, she has a list of "Considerations Before Reporting To CPS." I offer this consideration: Is the child being physically abused? If this child being neglected in a way that is harmful? If yes, call CPS. How long you've known the family and what your worldview is mean nothing when it comes to saving the life of a child. How are you going to sleep at night when something terrible happens and everyone says, "Well, we knew something was wrong but" or, "If only someone had said something." Stand up for kids when no one else will. That's what the message of this book should have been. No one ever said it would be easy when you know that you will be causing harm to a family unit, but doing the right thing rarely is easy.
In this chapter, we learn that a child is severely injured, potentially to the point that he may not survive, while the dad is at home drunk. This child and his parents are black. Apparently the dad was involved in domestic disturbance in the home a few years back. As a young, naive case worker, she visits the hospital and dad gives her some sob story about how he only had a couple beers and wasn't drunk at all. She makes a point to say that when she talks to the WHITE officer outside the room, the one who was on the scene, he says that the dad was completely and totally drunk. She finds this unbelievable because, gosh, dad is just so nice. If you can't do your job without pre-conceived bias, you need a new job. Pay attention to the child dying in front of you. Don't dismiss the person who was there on the scene because he is white, i.e. a liar.
Here's the thing. I worked in childcare for many, many years. I've testified in court for child abuse cases. I've worked with children who were removed from their home who were burned with cigarettes, had liquor put in their bottles, came to daycare with dried poop on their clothes and bottles with dead flies in them, and on and on. I've worked with kids who have suffered SA and who live(d) in some of the worst places you can imagine. I know someone who reported child abuse and CPS did nothing until the child ended up in the hospital with broken bones and seizures. I've made reports that were never followed up on. You only have to watch the news to wonder how so many kids are being failed by the system. I have also seen a family lose custody of their child temporarily because abuse was suspected and it turned out to be a rare medical condition that was the problem, so I know the system is not perfect. They don't pick and choose what looks like abuse. These kids were white, black, and Hispanic. The one thing they had in common was they all needed help.
CPS is underfunded and employees are overworked. The system is broken but not because of race or ethnicity. In 90% of the cases I've seen, even the horrible ones, those children are returned to their homes. The goal is always reunification. Abuse does not discriminate. If a social worker or police officer goes into a home and they see neglect and abuse, it is their moral and legal duty to do something about it. Children need advocates. You don't get a pass based on the color of your skin.
At the end of the book, she has a list of "Considerations Before Reporting To CPS." I offer this consideration: Is the child being physically abused? If this child being neglected in a way that is harmful? If yes, call CPS. How long you've known the family and what your worldview is mean nothing when it comes to saving the life of a child. How are you going to sleep at night when something terrible happens and everyone says, "Well, we knew something was wrong but" or, "If only someone had said something." Stand up for kids when no one else will. That's what the message of this book should have been. No one ever said it would be easy when you know that you will be causing harm to a family unit, but doing the right thing rarely is easy.
March 19, 2024
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.
Broken begins with a haunting dream—a disfigured face, dead children strewn across a lawn. This dream serves as a metaphor for the disfigurement of a broken system, where children's lives hang in the balance. Pryce's vivid prose draws readers into her reality, where she grapples with the weight of her responsibilities.
Pryce doesn't shy away from the harsh realities. She recounts her encounters with neglectful parents, abused children, and bureaucratic red tape. Her frustration and compassion collide as she navigates the labyrinthine world of CPS. The reader witnesses her internal struggle—the desire to protect versus the limitations of a flawed system.
What sets "Broken" apart is Pryce's unwavering commitment to systemic change. She doesn't merely recount horror stories; she offers solutions. Pryce advocates for trauma-informed training, increased resources, and a shift in focus from punitive measures to family preservation. Her passion for reform is contagious, leaving readers inspired and hopeful.
The book also delves into the emotional toll on caseworkers. Pryce grapples with burnout, compassion fatigue, and the weight of carrying others' trauma. Her vulnerability humanizes the profession, reminding us that caseworkers are not faceless bureaucrats but individuals with their own struggles.
As Pryce reflects on her journey, she leaves readers with a challenge—to see beyond the brokenness and envision a reimagined CPS. Her words linger, urging us to advocate for change, one child at a time.
Broken is a raw, unflinching account that demands attention. Jessica Pryce's voice is a beacon, guiding us toward a more compassionate and effective child protective system. This book is not just a memoir; it's a call to action.
The only thing I take minor exception with is the book title - for something to be Broken or must first have been whole or healthy, the child protective system in the US can be argued to never have been either...
Recommended for: Advocates, social workers, and anyone seeking insight into the challenges faced by child protective services.
Broken begins with a haunting dream—a disfigured face, dead children strewn across a lawn. This dream serves as a metaphor for the disfigurement of a broken system, where children's lives hang in the balance. Pryce's vivid prose draws readers into her reality, where she grapples with the weight of her responsibilities.
Pryce doesn't shy away from the harsh realities. She recounts her encounters with neglectful parents, abused children, and bureaucratic red tape. Her frustration and compassion collide as she navigates the labyrinthine world of CPS. The reader witnesses her internal struggle—the desire to protect versus the limitations of a flawed system.
What sets "Broken" apart is Pryce's unwavering commitment to systemic change. She doesn't merely recount horror stories; she offers solutions. Pryce advocates for trauma-informed training, increased resources, and a shift in focus from punitive measures to family preservation. Her passion for reform is contagious, leaving readers inspired and hopeful.
The book also delves into the emotional toll on caseworkers. Pryce grapples with burnout, compassion fatigue, and the weight of carrying others' trauma. Her vulnerability humanizes the profession, reminding us that caseworkers are not faceless bureaucrats but individuals with their own struggles.
As Pryce reflects on her journey, she leaves readers with a challenge—to see beyond the brokenness and envision a reimagined CPS. Her words linger, urging us to advocate for change, one child at a time.
Broken is a raw, unflinching account that demands attention. Jessica Pryce's voice is a beacon, guiding us toward a more compassionate and effective child protective system. This book is not just a memoir; it's a call to action.
The only thing I take minor exception with is the book title - for something to be Broken or must first have been whole or healthy, the child protective system in the US can be argued to never have been either...
Recommended for: Advocates, social workers, and anyone seeking insight into the challenges faced by child protective services.
Want to read
August 20, 2025Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services - Notes of a Former Caseworker by Jessica Pryce is a candid and compelling memoir that shines a light on the realities of the child welfare system. Drawing from her own experiences as a CPS caseworker, Pryce shares heartbreaking and eye-opening stories of children and families facing abuse and neglect, while also highlighting the small victories that make the work meaningful.
What makes this book stand out is Pryce’s honesty about systemic challenges—bureaucracy, resource gaps, and the emotional toll on workers—paired with thoughtful reflections on how the system can improve. Her compassionate voice and commitment to positive change make the book not only informative but inspiring. For anyone interested in child welfare, social justice, or understanding the frontline struggles and triumphs of CPS work, this memoir is a must-read.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review for an honest opinion.
What makes this book stand out is Pryce’s honesty about systemic challenges—bureaucracy, resource gaps, and the emotional toll on workers—paired with thoughtful reflections on how the system can improve. Her compassionate voice and commitment to positive change make the book not only informative but inspiring. For anyone interested in child welfare, social justice, or understanding the frontline struggles and triumphs of CPS work, this memoir is a must-read.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review for an honest opinion.
September 14, 2025
You ever see a book on a friend’s shelf and think, “Why in the world did they read that?” Yeah, this is one of those for me. So here’s my explanation: I don’t know if I can biologically have children. My husband and I tried. We even upgraded from an Equinox to a Traverse. You know, for the future dogs and kid. Now, I’ve still got the higher Traverse payment (just one year left, thank goodness), but no kid.
That being said, I’ve always had a curiosity about fostering or adopting. I’m not hung up on the “mini-me” thing. My child doesn’t need to look like me or share my genetics. In fact, I think I’d probably gravitate toward fostering teenagers, since that’s where there’s often the greatest need. But I’ll be honest, a little fostering for some baby cuddles sounds nice too. Enter this book.
Jessica Pryce, a former caseworker, lays bare the heartbreak, contradictions, and brokenness in CPS. She maps out her own growth: “The framework starts with being an Agent of the state, then an Advocate for change, then an Activist toward equity and justice.” I respected that progression. She asked the hard questions: Why are Black families overrepresented in CPS? Why is poverty treated like neglect? Why do all families get funneled into the same cookie-cutter requirements?
Some of the stories in this book are gut-punches. The case of Jatoia Potts left me floored. Her quote, “I lost everything and all I had to look forward to was seeing my son once per week. Then they stopped letting me visit him. It’s starting to feel like a sick game, where they are doing everything they can to break me.” Same with the forced separation of Syesha and Ty Mercado from their newborn daughter, streamed live on Instagram.
But here’s where my brain wrestled with Pryce. She shares about a friend who disciplined a child with a belt leaving bruises and then calls it a “narrow, oversimplified view of a complex and desperate moment.” To me, that sounded less like nuance and more like excusing something serious. And I couldn’t help but wonder would she have said the same if it wasn’t her friend? If race wasn’t a factor? Pryce highlights race in nearly every anecdote, and while yes, racial disparities in CPS are real and urgent, I found myself wondering if filtering everything through race made her arguments narrower instead of stronger.
This is where the book felt a little too “us vs. them.” Like in politics, when everything gets split into camps and the gray areas, the human messiness get flattened out. Which is ironic, since one of her points was that CPS too often reduces families to one bad “scene” instead of watching the whole “movie.” As she puts it, “It isn’t fair to condemn parents based on a short scene in a very long movie. But that’s what CPS does—by design.”
And really, that’s the tension I kept circling back to: children absolutely need protection, change absolutely needs to happen, but using race or poverty as a blanket justification, or a cop-out, worries me. At the same time, Pryce challenged me to confront how deeply flawed the system is: overloaded caseworkers (“tasked with making life-altering decisions while running on fumes”), inconsistent investigations (three million reports a year, but less than 10% verified as abuse), and the duplicity of offering “help” while simultaneously monitoring and documenting families. Or as Pryce brilliantly calls it: “benevolent harm.”
So did I learn from this book? Yes. Did it scare me? Definitely. Would I recommend it? If you want to wrestle with messy, frustrating, and very human questions about child welfare, then yes.
That being said, I’ve always had a curiosity about fostering or adopting. I’m not hung up on the “mini-me” thing. My child doesn’t need to look like me or share my genetics. In fact, I think I’d probably gravitate toward fostering teenagers, since that’s where there’s often the greatest need. But I’ll be honest, a little fostering for some baby cuddles sounds nice too. Enter this book.
Jessica Pryce, a former caseworker, lays bare the heartbreak, contradictions, and brokenness in CPS. She maps out her own growth: “The framework starts with being an Agent of the state, then an Advocate for change, then an Activist toward equity and justice.” I respected that progression. She asked the hard questions: Why are Black families overrepresented in CPS? Why is poverty treated like neglect? Why do all families get funneled into the same cookie-cutter requirements?
Some of the stories in this book are gut-punches. The case of Jatoia Potts left me floored. Her quote, “I lost everything and all I had to look forward to was seeing my son once per week. Then they stopped letting me visit him. It’s starting to feel like a sick game, where they are doing everything they can to break me.” Same with the forced separation of Syesha and Ty Mercado from their newborn daughter, streamed live on Instagram.
But here’s where my brain wrestled with Pryce. She shares about a friend who disciplined a child with a belt leaving bruises and then calls it a “narrow, oversimplified view of a complex and desperate moment.” To me, that sounded less like nuance and more like excusing something serious. And I couldn’t help but wonder would she have said the same if it wasn’t her friend? If race wasn’t a factor? Pryce highlights race in nearly every anecdote, and while yes, racial disparities in CPS are real and urgent, I found myself wondering if filtering everything through race made her arguments narrower instead of stronger.
This is where the book felt a little too “us vs. them.” Like in politics, when everything gets split into camps and the gray areas, the human messiness get flattened out. Which is ironic, since one of her points was that CPS too often reduces families to one bad “scene” instead of watching the whole “movie.” As she puts it, “It isn’t fair to condemn parents based on a short scene in a very long movie. But that’s what CPS does—by design.”
And really, that’s the tension I kept circling back to: children absolutely need protection, change absolutely needs to happen, but using race or poverty as a blanket justification, or a cop-out, worries me. At the same time, Pryce challenged me to confront how deeply flawed the system is: overloaded caseworkers (“tasked with making life-altering decisions while running on fumes”), inconsistent investigations (three million reports a year, but less than 10% verified as abuse), and the duplicity of offering “help” while simultaneously monitoring and documenting families. Or as Pryce brilliantly calls it: “benevolent harm.”
So did I learn from this book? Yes. Did it scare me? Definitely. Would I recommend it? If you want to wrestle with messy, frustrating, and very human questions about child welfare, then yes.
December 18, 2025
I feel very conflicted in writing this review. I myself am a social worker and I spent 10 years working in child welfare, 6 of those years contracted with CPS in the state of Michigan.
There are glaring systemic problems that are not being addressed in the system or by the system. No decent social worker will argue that fact. It’s a broken system in many ways. The author points these things out and rightfully connects the disproportionate effect on Black families. However, the author spent what appears to be about a year as an investigator. It is clear in her case presentations that she was a green worker when she left the field of direct work and lacks some of the depth of understanding.
I found the case presentations to be unsettling and….incomplete. I oversaw hundreds if not thousands of CPS and foster care cases during my tenure in child welfare, and no case is ever what it seems on the surface. The case presentations in this work were too neat and simple. They felt cleaned up. Pieces of the stories were missing to present a version of events that exonerated the parents. In my experience, removals do not happen in a vacuum based on a one-off situation. And termination of rights is only considered after a lengthy effort toward reunification.
I was somewhat disturbed at the suggestion that families shouldn’t be reported because getting involved with CPS is hard for them. Stressors (such as lack of housing, daycare or resources) do not in any way justify beating a child black and blue with an object. And there’s no way on earth that there was only one domestically violent situation in the main case discussed. That’s not how intimate partner violence works.
I agreed on many points with this author. Case plans are lengthy and often not applicable or individualized, courts are slow and cumbersome, fees are ridiculous, case workers change too frequently, poverty is conflated with neglect, adoption is not a fix-all, supervised visitation is a hot mess…but I would have liked to see more solutions or pathways to remedy issues rather than an exploration of how to stop or get rid of CPS. To which there wasn’t a definitive answer either. She offers little to no feedback on how to actually make systemic changes.
So while I enjoyed this work immensely as a former case manager and supervisor in child welfare, I think this is a start to the conversation. Not an end or solution. I found her discussion to be somewhat shallow and lacking the depth of reflection from a worker who has been in the field for a significant length of time. And she had little feedback on how the cases she presented SHOULD have been handled. By definition, those families were involved with CPS because of actual abuse or neglect. We can discuss all day long that portions of their cases were handled badly, but they weren’t necessarily involved with CPS for nonsensical reasons. A child with partially healed skull fractures has been abused. A child covered in bruises has been abused. That’s just the simple fact.
There are glaring systemic problems that are not being addressed in the system or by the system. No decent social worker will argue that fact. It’s a broken system in many ways. The author points these things out and rightfully connects the disproportionate effect on Black families. However, the author spent what appears to be about a year as an investigator. It is clear in her case presentations that she was a green worker when she left the field of direct work and lacks some of the depth of understanding.
I found the case presentations to be unsettling and….incomplete. I oversaw hundreds if not thousands of CPS and foster care cases during my tenure in child welfare, and no case is ever what it seems on the surface. The case presentations in this work were too neat and simple. They felt cleaned up. Pieces of the stories were missing to present a version of events that exonerated the parents. In my experience, removals do not happen in a vacuum based on a one-off situation. And termination of rights is only considered after a lengthy effort toward reunification.
I was somewhat disturbed at the suggestion that families shouldn’t be reported because getting involved with CPS is hard for them. Stressors (such as lack of housing, daycare or resources) do not in any way justify beating a child black and blue with an object. And there’s no way on earth that there was only one domestically violent situation in the main case discussed. That’s not how intimate partner violence works.
I agreed on many points with this author. Case plans are lengthy and often not applicable or individualized, courts are slow and cumbersome, fees are ridiculous, case workers change too frequently, poverty is conflated with neglect, adoption is not a fix-all, supervised visitation is a hot mess…but I would have liked to see more solutions or pathways to remedy issues rather than an exploration of how to stop or get rid of CPS. To which there wasn’t a definitive answer either. She offers little to no feedback on how to actually make systemic changes.
So while I enjoyed this work immensely as a former case manager and supervisor in child welfare, I think this is a start to the conversation. Not an end or solution. I found her discussion to be somewhat shallow and lacking the depth of reflection from a worker who has been in the field for a significant length of time. And she had little feedback on how the cases she presented SHOULD have been handled. By definition, those families were involved with CPS because of actual abuse or neglect. We can discuss all day long that portions of their cases were handled badly, but they weren’t necessarily involved with CPS for nonsensical reasons. A child with partially healed skull fractures has been abused. A child covered in bruises has been abused. That’s just the simple fact.
August 22, 2024
An Eye Opener!
I started and finished this book in a matter of hours as I found the subject matter to be very interesting and in some ways relevant to my life personally and professionally. I learned a great deal from reading this and a part of me wishes I could sit and talk with the author over lunch or coffee -- or both.
I could not have been as level headed (and I am normally a very calm polite person) and reasonable as most of the parents covered in this book if state workers were to show up at my door threatening to break up my family. And as someone who has made several reports to CPS, I never really thought in depth about what happens afterwards, or, what if the parents actually lose their child permanently. I know that sounds heartless and I am so far from that in reality. But truly, I fell for what I've learned is often not true. That is, the goal of CPS workers is to reunite families as quickly as possible. This book illustrates how that is often NOT the case! My heart aches for "Jatoia" as well as for Syesha and Ty, Erica, Didi etc. The reality of having your child taken in cases where the situation didn't require a heavy-handed response must be gut wrenching. And the fact that these cases weren't obvious or overt proven abuse cases where a child was bloody and on life support (thankfully!) somehow makes it harder to fathom the power CPS is given and how it's basically a "one size fits all" approach. This is something society would not tolerate in most any other setting! Why do we tolerate it here? I am sort of afraid of the answers to that question because I think at least part of it is "It's not happening to us. It's THEIR problem."
The book speaks truth about the racism within the system -- especially towards black families. They are often seen as guilty until proven innocent, given tasks to fulfill to get their children back that don't even relate to their ability to parent and ESPECIALLY don't even seem to consider what each family's unique issues are and "how do we partner with them to address these issues?" Instead, however well intentioned the CPS worker may be as an individual, they too get caught up having to follow inane antiquated and often destructive policies.
I think this book should be required reading for every social work student, child protective worker, CPS administrators, judges that work with families, guardian ad litems, lawyers etc. I hold 2 social work degrees and have personally been the minor in a child abuse case years ago, plus I too have had to make a report against a relative. Yet I didn't realize all of the potential for further damage -- especially in cases that AREN'T so "cut and dried."
This book is interesting, well edited and researched. I also like that the author, Jessica Pryce , a former CPS worker, is very open to self reflection and able to acknowledge times when she wishes she had done something differently. Excellent book!
I started and finished this book in a matter of hours as I found the subject matter to be very interesting and in some ways relevant to my life personally and professionally. I learned a great deal from reading this and a part of me wishes I could sit and talk with the author over lunch or coffee -- or both.
I could not have been as level headed (and I am normally a very calm polite person) and reasonable as most of the parents covered in this book if state workers were to show up at my door threatening to break up my family. And as someone who has made several reports to CPS, I never really thought in depth about what happens afterwards, or, what if the parents actually lose their child permanently. I know that sounds heartless and I am so far from that in reality. But truly, I fell for what I've learned is often not true. That is, the goal of CPS workers is to reunite families as quickly as possible. This book illustrates how that is often NOT the case! My heart aches for "Jatoia" as well as for Syesha and Ty, Erica, Didi etc. The reality of having your child taken in cases where the situation didn't require a heavy-handed response must be gut wrenching. And the fact that these cases weren't obvious or overt proven abuse cases where a child was bloody and on life support (thankfully!) somehow makes it harder to fathom the power CPS is given and how it's basically a "one size fits all" approach. This is something society would not tolerate in most any other setting! Why do we tolerate it here? I am sort of afraid of the answers to that question because I think at least part of it is "It's not happening to us. It's THEIR problem."
The book speaks truth about the racism within the system -- especially towards black families. They are often seen as guilty until proven innocent, given tasks to fulfill to get their children back that don't even relate to their ability to parent and ESPECIALLY don't even seem to consider what each family's unique issues are and "how do we partner with them to address these issues?" Instead, however well intentioned the CPS worker may be as an individual, they too get caught up having to follow inane antiquated and often destructive policies.
I think this book should be required reading for every social work student, child protective worker, CPS administrators, judges that work with families, guardian ad litems, lawyers etc. I hold 2 social work degrees and have personally been the minor in a child abuse case years ago, plus I too have had to make a report against a relative. Yet I didn't realize all of the potential for further damage -- especially in cases that AREN'T so "cut and dried."
This book is interesting, well edited and researched. I also like that the author, Jessica Pryce , a former CPS worker, is very open to self reflection and able to acknowledge times when she wishes she had done something differently. Excellent book!
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