CASA ESJ Book Group
CASA Equity and Social Justice Book Group
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
12:00 noon – 1:30 pm
Via Zoom with Co-Facilitator, Staff GAL, Virginia Whalen
Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare
by Dorothy Roberts
Shattered Bonds is a stirring account of a worsening American social crisis--the disproportionate representation of black children in the U.S. foster care system and its effects on black communities and the country as a whole. Tying the origins and impact of this disparity to racial injustice, Dorothy Roberts contends that child-welfare policy reflects a political choice to address startling rates of black child poverty by punishing parents instead of tackling poverty's societal roots. Using conversations with mothers battling the Chicago child-welfare system for custody of their children, along with national data, Roberts levels a powerful indictment of racial disparities in foster care and tells a moving story of the women and children who earn our respect in their fight to keep their families intact
FILM RECOMMENDATION:
“Just Mercy” based upon the book by Bryan Stevenson. (Amazon Prime)
This film takes us inside America’s broken criminal justice system and compels us to confront inequality and injustice
Earn 1.5 hours of ESJ continuing education credit for attendance.
Questions? Contact ESJ Group facilitator, Janet Horton (janet.horton@kingcounty.gov)