The idea that children should be protected is as old as our existence and is not just present in humans: protection of the offspring is present in the animal kingdom, too. The story of Child Protective Services (CPS) as we understand it today starts in New York City in 1864 with the birth of a baby girl named Mary Ellen Wilson.
Shortly after her birth, her father Thomas Wilson, died. Her mother, Francis Wilson, now having to work, boarded Mary Ellen with another woman by the name of Mary Score. This practice is similar to a long term daycare or babysitting service with living accommodations. However, Mary Ellen’s mother was having difficulty making the payments to Mary Score for the boarding of Mary Ellen and at the point, Mary Ellen was turned over to the New York City Department of Charities.
Unfortunately, the Department of Charities, without proper paperwork, illegally placed Mary Ellen with another couple by the name of Mary and Thomas McCormack. Shortly after Mary Ellen’s placement Thomas McCormack died and his widow remarried. Mary McCormack was extremely abusive toward Mary Ellen, although it’s not clear why. The neighbors in the building were aware of the abuse Mary Ellen was suffering, but no action was taken until 1874, when she was 10 years old. A religious mission worker with the Methodist church by the name of Etta Wheeler, was asked by one of the neighbors to check on Mary Ellen. She knocked on the door asking for help with another resident in the building and saw Mary Ellen. What she saw was a 10 year old girl dressed in tattered clothing, underweight and with bruises and scars all over her body.
Ms. Wheeler looked into how she could help Mary Ellen. She gathered written testimony from neighbors, but unfortunately, the laws of the time were not enough for New York to intervene. Knowing now that the government wouldn’t help, Ms. Wheeler turned to Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for help. Mr. Bergh sent an NYSPCA investigator to Mary Ellen’s home posing as a census taker to verify the allegations that she was being abused. The investigator confirmed the allegations. At the same time, ASPCA attorney Elbridge Gerry drafted a petition to remove Mary Ellen from the home in order for her to testify in court.
Dressed in ragged clothing and with bruises and scars all over her body, 10 year-old Mary Ellen was removed from the home and brought to court where she testified the following:
“My father and mother are both dead. I don’t know how old I am. I have no recollection of a time when I did not live with the Connollys. …. Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip—a raw hide. The whip always left a black and blue mark on my body. I have now the black and blue marks on my head which were made by mamma, and also a cut on the left side of my forehead which was made by a pair of scissors. She struck me with the scissors and cut me; I have no recollection of ever having been kissed by any one—have never been kissed by mamma. I have never been taken on my mamma’s lap and caressed or petted. I never dared to speak to anybody, because if I did I would get whipped…. I do not know for what I was whipped—mamma never said anything to me when she whipped me. I do not want to go back to live with mamma, because she beats me so. I have no recollection ever being on the street in my life.”
In response, the judge issued a court order giving the court control over Mary Ellen under Section 65 of the Habeas Corpus Act. The case received much publicity and Mary Connolly was tried and convicted of felonious assault of Mary Ellen Wilson. She was sentenced to one year of hard labor in prison. Mary Ellen was placed with a good family who adopted her. She lived a full life, had a family of her own and passed away at the age of 92.
Inspired by their work on the Mary Ellen case, Henry Bergh, Elbridge Gerry and others founded the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children- the first child protective service- in 1875. By 1925, there were 480 independent local societies for the prevention of cruelty to children nationwide. They followed the precedent set by the Mary Ellen case as new laws came into the picture and worked closely with law enforcement.
The government’s involvement was limited to law enforcement activity and children’s rights laws until the 1960s. In the 1960s, the network of societies for the prevention of cruelty to children began to crumble. Some closed due to lack of funding, while others closed due to lack of staff. States started to step in and fill the gap using their own social services agencies and establishing their own central registries. At the same time, custodial abuse and neglect were decriminalized and the remedial courts (commonly referred to as the family and juvenile courts) were created and child welfare cases were moved from the criminal courts to these courts.
Over the next 20 years, states would gradually take on the responsibility of child protective services until CPS was a government responsibility in every state by the 1980s. Laws like the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act of 1974 helped speed up the process, too. By the 1980s, the network of societies for the prevention of cruelty to children were relegated to history. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, however, survives in New York performing a number of contracted services (not investigations) for New York City CPS (known as ACS) including counseling for CPS workers, mandated reporter training and prevention services for families subjected to CPS investigations.
Decriminalizing custodial abuse and neglect gave a lot of power to child welfare not afforded to law enforcement and reduced the tools the accused had to defend themselves. The shift in responsibility of child protection from private to public means that holding CPS accountable is an extremely difficult task and typically requires time, money and influence many don’t have. Getting into trouble with the DMV or IRS can be a nightmare and CPS is no different. Our child welfare consultants have seen countless families who defined a good parent and a good home differently than CPS with dire consequences. The more you learn and the earlier you start, the better prepared you’ll be to avoid those same consequences.