Are we forgetting that abuse usually runs in families?? Maybe there's a darn good reason not to just hand over an abused kid to a family member that would be just as likely to inflict further abuse as the parent/ original offender.If we place the child in a foster home, that foster home has at least been researched and found safe. Makes perfect sense to place a child in a safe home until authorities can determine if placement with relatives is a good idea.

Who says government employees are any safer? Why do you trust them? I don't. A child belongs with family immediately, not government.

This is a tough call--abuse does run in families--but then some foster parents or other foster children also commit abuse.
Had a good friend who used to work for Child Protective Services and quit. Why? Because he learned to predict future cases of abuse but wasn't allowed to to do anything to prevent them. He said that in over 90% of cases of abuse, the abuser would be a subsequent boyfriend (or rarely husband) of the mother of the child, that the child was most often illegitimate, and that substance abuse would be involved. Yet in two other states I've lived in, all these warning flags are ignored, including frequently, earlier reports of abuse.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN WHEN THEIR OWN PARENTS WON'T?

Right now the state is doing the best it can to keep children safe. Until the law is changed we must do the best we can with what we have, which is the foster parent system. IF YOU ARE SINCERELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN, then do something - be a foster parent and provide a safe and caring home for as many kids as you can.

The placement is not with the government (e.g. Newt Gringrich's caring orphanages), but with those crass money grubbing foster care providers who've had the background checks.

This scares me to death!! Seems we are moving closer and closer to the State taking control of our children!