As Child Protective Services workers are given more and more authority, an objective look at the evidence reveals an unquestionable pattern of abuse of their power, and of the United States Constitution and various state constitutions. While I could compile a list of the way their policies and procedures abuse the power, I will concentrate on two areas of policy where the abuse of power is encouraged and fertilized: Mandatory reporting and the quota system.

Mandatory reporting is the not so obvious area. The concept seems noble enough: requiring physicians, educators, and other public servants to report suspected abuse to the authorities when they see it. But it overlooks rather obvious facts in its implementation; most notably that the individuals held to be responsible for reporting are not qualified to pass judgement on what constitutes abuse. As a result, many caring professionals make calls to CPS because, well, their career depends on it.

Mandatory reporting laws also bring with them a certain quota system. The only way to ensure that these professionals are following the mandatory reporting laws is to compare their level of reporting with that of their peers; as a result, an individual who fails to make calls to the CPS hotline will be under greater scrutiny because of the concern they are "giving a pass" to abusers.

Worst of all, it compromises the trust that parents should be able to have in these professionals to meet their needs and the needs of their families. Doctor-patient confidentiality, which is usually sacred (and, I might add, the subject of a common complaint of critics of the US Patriot Act, another area where the left defends the rights of terrorists while allowing the rights of individuals to be abused) is basically nullified if you have children. It doesn't exists. If your child has a rare disease such as brittle bone disease, God help you because you might as well report yourself...CPS is GOING to be at your door.

Quota systems are similarly misguided. Remember how incensed we were years ago at the quota systems imposed by many police departments? I remember my parents refusing to drive anywhere that wasn't necessary in the last weeks of every month, for fear of running into policemen looking to fill their quotas for the month. Quota systems operate on an assumption of guilt; if the agencies want to maintain funding, they NEED to bring more cases in and seize more children. The most draconian example of this is the state of California, which pays based on the INCREASE in the number of child intakes; in other words, if you don't seize more children than you did last year, you don't get extra money.

There is no question in anyone's mind that legitimate cases of abuse and intentional, malicious neglect need to be investigated (but not to the point of criminalizing poverty in America, as many rules in the current CPS system have the effect of doing). But we can do so without destroying the rights of the individual and putting an impossible yoke onto the shoulders of health care professionals, educators, and yes, even CPS agents. Our rights as citizens are important, and violating them under the guise of providing security is an inexcusable means.