PROFESSOR ANDREA J. MARTIN PRESENTS AT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY CHARLES WIDGER SCHOOL OF LAW
April 2023 — On April 5, 2023, Professor Andrea J. Martin presented her article, “Beyond Brackeen: Active Efforts Toward Antiracist Child Welfare Policy” at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.
Professor Martin presented her latest research that shows that due to structural racism, legal protections afforded to families of children in foster care have been significantly eroded and continue to be challenged. As a result, families of color, who are disproportionately represented in the foster care system, do not receive the support needed to preserve their families.
The latest attempt to dismantle child welfare protections for a marginalized group was a prolonged attack on the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. In Haaland v. Brackeen, Indian adversaries challenged the law’s heightened requirements to protect American Indian families, including the use of “active efforts” to prevent the separation of American Indian children from their families and tribes. A similar provision applicable to non-Indian families requires a lower, “reasonable efforts” standard.
Professor Martin’s article demonstrates that federal child welfare standards for non-American Indian children initially helped families maintain custody of their children. However, based on racist presumptions that children of color in foster care would be “safer” if adopted more quickly by better, presumably white, families, the policy goal shifted from family preservation to permanent placement through speedy adoption. As a result, many children, who are in the foster care system due to underlying issues of poverty, are never reunited with their parents. Families do not receive adequate levels of time or support to re-establish the social and economic stability necessary to maintain or regain custody of their children. This negatively impacts the disproportionately represented families of color in the child welfare system and leads to negative outcomes for African American children and their families.
Professor Martin proposes an “active efforts” requirement for all children. This antiracist child welfare measure would create alignment in federal child welfare policies, provide clear guidelines regarding the actions necessary to effectively assist families in the child welfare system, and most importantly, help families in the foster care system establish attainable goals and receive the level of support needed to maintain bonds with their children.
Her article was recently accepted for publication by the Yale Law & Policy Review.
Professor Andrea J. Martin is a visiting assistant professor of law at Penn State Dickinson Law and recipient of the Penn State Dickinson Law Phillip M. Scott Teaching Excellence Award. Her research draws on constitutional and legal history to explore and analyze current social justice issues including American Indian sovereignty rights, antiracism in education, and voter suppression. Prior to joining Dickinson Law, Martin spent twelve years as a strategic legal advisor, managing business and regulatory legal affairs at a multi-billion-dollar company. Professor Martin also served as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Appellate Division of the Rhode Island Department of Attorney of General. Martin is involved in diversity and inclusion efforts and served on the Governor’s Task Force on Diversity, the Governor’s Commission on Prejudice and Bias and the Thurgood Marshall Lawyer’s Society. She has also taught legal writing in the CLEO (Council on Legal Education Opportunity) program, recently hosted by Penn State Dickinson Law, to increase the number of lawyers from diverse backgrounds.