Broken

Transforming Child Protective Services—Notes of a Former Caseworker

By: Jessica Pryce

Narrated by: Deanna Anthony

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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Loved This Book, I Finished It Within 24 Hours.

Finally A Book About The Child Welfare System Legally Breaking Families Apart & The Domino Affect It Causes The Families, Told From First Hand Experiences.

A Great Book with Compelling Insights

Wow, this book was a fascinating read! I’ve read several social policy & legal justice system books over the years and this is right near the top for me! It was well-written with gripping details and she did an incredible job weaving in her many years of research!

I really appreciated how Jessica compared and contrasted theory vs practice in the world of CPS. It made me think of the Einstein quote “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not”. Additionally, I liked her ability to consider multiple perspectives in the CPS system while she reflected on being a part of the system as she slowly grew apart from the system!

Being vulnerable enough to self-reflect in an honest way made for a great book!

p.s. Should the author write a follow-up book, I’d be interested to read her thoughts on how AI & automation could potentially help/harm CPS in the future!

loved the perspective!

absolutely amazing read! surely shifted my perspective and challenged me as an adoptive parent from the cps system.

Great reflections!!

Sobering account of current system and implications of systemic racism, class disparities, and knowledge of the system that is supposed to protect but often misses the mark

Out dated

As a current CPS investigator I feel like the goal of our work is to help connect famines with resources has changed over the years.