Alternative Caretaking and Family Autonomy: Some Thoughts in Response to Dorothy Roberts

In this Commentary, Baker highlights two important issues raised by Roberts's article. First, she shows that the structure of state support for caretaking affects caretaking norms. If women, and particularly women of color, want to take advantage of the benefits of more collective caretaking arrangements like kinship networks, the state support should not be limited to individual women who choose to caretake in isolated, non-communal settings. Second, she suggests that in order to maximize the benefits of kinship arrangements, it is important to articulate a theory of state deference to family that does not rely on traditional notions of financial independence or parental rights.