An excerpt:

Such investigations—even if they don’t end in prosecutions—can be harmful. “Investigations are really terrifying—these are people who are coming into your house and have the power to remove your children at any time,” says Kelley Fong, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech who has researched how fear of Child Protective Services leads poor mothers to avoid needed services. “They’re doing a full, comprehensive assessment of all aspects of your family’s personal life, even if they’re not related to the issue at hand.”