Broken Three Times

A Story of Child Abuse in America

Joan Kaufman

Broken Three Times is a story about child abuse in America. It begins with snapshots from the mother's abusive childhood, then fast-forwards to the family's first involvement with Connecticut protective services when her children are eleven and ten. Over the next five years we see the children pass through nearly twenty placements, while their mother continually relapses on crack and moves from one violent relationship to the next.
This book examines systemic problems in child welfare via the twists and turns of a family's gripping and rattling story, with each chapter punctuated with a brief scholarly review of topics related to the events described in the chapter.
The book reads like fiction, but the author's background in neuroscience, genetics, and child welfare work adds state-of-the art science and practice perspectives into conceptualizations of the issues relevant to understanding risk and promoting resiliency among children served by the system.
This book will provide readers with information about innovations and recent improvements in the system, concrete steps to take to enhance practice, ongoing gaps in our knowledge, and a deepening appreciation of the value of incorporating broad perspectives into this work--from neurobiology to social policy.
The content is meaningful and accessible to both professional and lay audiences, with foci that span from neurobiology to social policy.

Broken Three Times

A Story of Child Abuse in America

Joan Kaufman

Description

Broken Three Times is a story about child abuse in America. It begins with snapshots from a mother's abusive childhood, then fast-forwards to her family's first involvement with Connecticut protective services when her children are eleven and ten. After a brief investigation, the family's case is closed, and despite their many needs, they are not provided links to any ongoing supportive services. Over the next five years we see the children pass through nearly twenty placements, while their mother continually relapses on crack and moves from one violent relationship to the next. Each chapter of the book provides a launching point for discussing state-of-the-art policy, practice, and scientific updates relevant for understanding risk, promoting resilience, and improving the child welfare system. This book will provide readers with some information about innovations and recent improvements in the system, concrete steps to take to enhance practice, ongoing gaps in our knowledge, and a deepening appreciation of the value of incorporating broad perspectives into this work--from neurobiology to social policy.

Broken Three Times

A Story of Child Abuse in America

Joan Kaufman

Table of Contents:

Prologue
Chapter 1: The Snoopy Snow Cone Machine: 1975
Chapter 2: The First Investigation: 2000
Chapter 3: The Second Investigation: 2001
Chapter 4: After the Children's First Placement: 2 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 5: The Children's Second Placement: 3 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 6: Living with the Olsens: 59 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 7: Five Placements in Five Weeks: 291 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 8: Looking for a Home without a Dog that Bites: 399 in out-of-home care
Chapter 9: An Inch from Death: 448 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 10: Without a Family: 571 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 11: No More Goody Two Shoes: 1,148 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 12: Turning Eighteen: 1,614 Days in out-of-home care
Chapter 13: Epilogue
Chapter 14: Lessons Learned

Broken Three Times

A Story of Child Abuse in America

Joan Kaufman

Author Information

Joan Kaufman, PhD, received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Yale University where she was on faculty in the Department of Psychiatry from 1998-2015. She is currently Director of Research at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and has joint faculty appointments in Psychiatry and the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins.

Broken Three Times

A Story of Child Abuse in America

Joan Kaufman

Reviews and Awards

"While this book reads like fiction, the story is all too typical of the experience of families in the Nation's child welfare system. Summaries in each chapter on what we know, or don't know about ways to address the results of trauma are invaluable for anyone working in child welfare. This is essential reading for anyone engaged in child welfare advocacy, policy or systems reform." --Carole Shauffer, JD, MEd, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Youth Law Center

"Kaufman seamlessly links her authentic, compelling, and riveting case history of one family's journey through the US child welfare system to the underlying research in neuroscience, epidemiology, and evidence-based practice. I highly recommend this powerful clinical, scientific, and policy page-turner to all concerned with improving services for children and families who have experienced trauma." --John A. Fairbank, Ph.D., Co-Director, UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC USA

"This is a remarkable story, told masterfully by one of the world's leading researchers on childhood trauma. Sadly, it is not remarkable because it is unusual, but because Kaufman so compellingly conveys the tragic consequences of addiction, and our ineffective efforts to protect maltreated children through a deeply moving portrait of intergenerational trauma. It is at once a compassionate but searing account of one family's pain, a guide to the scientific questions that emanate from maltreatment, and a consideration of some policies that might make a difference. I consider it nothing less than an urgent call for reform on a national scale." --Charles H. Zeanah, Mary Peters Sellars Polchow Chair in Psychiatry, Tulane University