Protection Failed: Inside America’s Foster Care System

What happens to children after they are taken into foster care?The answer is more complex—and more urgent—than most people realize.In Protection Failed: Inside America’s Foster Care System, Samantha J. Garcia delivers a structured, deeply examined look at one of the most critical systems in the United States. Moving beyond assumptions and surface-level narratives, this book explores what happens inside foster care when policy, data, and lived experience do not fully align.Through a clear and grounded approach, this book examines:Children who go missing while in state custodyAbuse and neglect within foster placementsData gaps, underreporting, and limited visibilityOversight failures and accountability breakdownsThe impact of high caseloads and system strainThe gap between what children experience and what systems recordRather than focusing on isolated incidents, this book connects patterns—revealing how structural issues shape outcomes across the system.Protection Failed does not rely on assumption or exaggeration. It is a careful, direct examination of how a system designed to protect can, in some cases, fall short of its purpose.This is not just a book about foster care.It is a book about systems, accountability, and the difference between intention and reality. Read more