Hillbilly Elegy

informal: Mamaw would kill anyone
who tried to keep me from her. This
worked for us because Mamaw was a
lunatic and our entire family feared her.
Not everyone can rely on the saving
graces of a crazy hillbilly. Child
services are, for many kids, the last
pieces of the safety net; if they fall
through, precious little remains to catch
them.
Part of the problem is how state
laws define the family. For families like
mine—and for many black and Hispanic
families—grandparents, cousins, aunts,
and uncles play an outsize role. Child
services often cut them out of the picture,
as they did in my case. Some states