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By Cindy McQuay
For decades, the guiding principle of child welfare systems was family preservation—keeping children within their biological families whenever possible. This goal was rooted in the belief that children thrive best when raised in stable, loving, and supportive environments. However, in recent years, that principle has been systematically eroded, replaced by a disturbing trend: child welfare has morphed into a multi-billion-dollar industry where children are treated as commodities—bought, sold, abused, and even killed for profit. The prioritization of foster care placements and adoption has shifted the focus away from keeping families intact, with devastating consequences for both children and parents.
The initial goal of child welfare systems was to prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families. Family preservation programs, such as family counseling, in-home services, and parent education, were intended to help families overcome crises and remain together. These programs, when properly funded and executed, have been proven to reduce the number of children entering foster care and improve long-term outcomes. However, the focus on family preservation has been overshadowed by a systemic drive to maximize profits, with children being treated as expendable products within an increasingly corrupt system.
The child welfare system has become deeply entangled with financial incentives that drive decisions about family separation. Agencies receive funding based on the number of children they place in foster care or the number they adopt out, creating a perverse incentive to remove children from their biological families. This has transformed what was once a compassionate system into a profit-driven machine, with little regard for the devastating consequences of these separations. Children are placed in foster homes, where they are often moved between multiple homes, sometimes subject to neglect and abuse, with few legal safeguards to protect them.
Foster parents, too, have become pawns in this system. While many are well-meaning, there are countless cases where foster care becomes a lucrative business for those willing to exploit the system. Foster parents are compensated more than biological families in crisis, creating a financial incentive to take children into care rather than supporting families in need. This has led to a culture where the idea of preserving families becomes secondary to the financial benefits of fostering and adopting children out of the system.
In this environment, children are no longer seen as individuals with inherent rights and dignity but as commodities to be bought and sold. Adoption agencies often act as middlemen in the transaction, profiting from the placement of children into homes, sometimes with little consideration of the child’s needs or the trauma they have already experienced. The adoption industry itself, with its aggressive marketing and pressure to “find forever homes,” has played a central role in erasing the importance of preserving biological families, making it seem as though the only option for children in foster care is adoption, no matter the cost.
This profit-driven model not only leads to the exploitation of children but also puts them in harm’s way. The systemic corruption within the industry has allowed cases of abuse and neglect to flourish, as there is little oversight of the foster care system. Children who should be receiving care and protection often experience further trauma—abuse, neglect, and even death—at the hands of those entrusted to care for them. This includes stories of children being placed in homes where they are physically or sexually abused, or worse, killed.
Moreover, the focus on profit over family preservation has created an environment where children who could have been safely reunited with their families are instead placed for adoption, a permanent separation that often causes lifelong emotional scars. Children who are removed from their families and placed for adoption are not just losing their homes—they are losing their identities, their cultural connections, and sometimes even the opportunity to heal the relationships that once existed. This trauma is rarely accounted for in the rush to find a “permanent” solution.
In an industry where children are viewed as a revenue stream, the priorities are clearly out of alignment. What is missing is a genuine commitment to supporting struggling families so that children do not have to be taken from their homes in the first place. Instead of funding family preservation programs and giving biological parents the resources they need, money is funneled into foster care agencies, adoption incentives, and other aspects of the system that prioritize placing children in temporary homes, often for profit.
To restore the integrity of the child welfare system, we must shift the focus back to family preservation, investing in programs that help keep children with their biological families whenever possible. This means providing parents with the necessary resources, such as financial support, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment programs. It also means reducing the financial incentives that reward family separation and exploitation, while instead creating a system that prioritizes healing and restoration.
Children are not commodities to be bought, abused, or murdered for profit. They are human beings, deserving of love, safety, and stability. It’s time to dismantle the corrupt and profit-driven system that has taken root within child welfare and return to the true priority: keeping families together, whenever it is safe and possible to do so. Our children’s futures depend on it.
Cindy Olson McQuay was adopted at three months old, and that has always been a core part of her identity. From a young age, she wanted to uncover her origins and understand her story. Her adoptive parents fully supported that quest. When she turned 18 and tried to obtain her adoption records and original birth certificate, she faced significant challenges common to many in the adoption community. This struggle ignited her passion for advocating for the rights and needs of adopted people. She works to raise awareness about the trauma of separation, promote family preservation, and expose flaws in the adoption industry and foster care system. With the rise of DNA testing, she became a search angel, particularly helping Amerasians identify their American GI birth fathers. She has a wonderful husband of 32 years with whom she’s raised three remarkable adult children who, along with their three grandchildren, bring them immense joy. She pours her heart and soul into Healing Retreats for Adoptees, DCPs, LDAs, and NPEs; Hiraeth Hope & Healing, Inc., which she co-founded in 2019.
Gavel Stock photos by Vecteezy