Verified answer

Actually it was originally supposed to be the child who was protected by child protective services. Somehow someone got the idea that it was more important to keep the family together than to protect the child. This was more likely to have been a social worker than a judge. I don't blame the courts because so often the child is placed right back in the home without the case ever getting into court. Actually, the politicians and the voters who elect them have to share the blame. It is considerably less expensive to place an abused child back in an abusive home than it is to keep the child in a safe place. So government officials can save money and justify it by saying that they're keeping the family together.