Using archival materials from the Domestic Relations Court of New York City, this article traces the conflict between private institutions and the state over responsibility for neglected African American children in the early twentieth century. After a long history of exclusion by private child welfare, the court assumed public responsibility for the protection of children of all races. Yet, in an arrangement of delegated governance, judges found themselves unable to place non-white children because of the enduring exclusionary policies of private agencies. When the situation became critical, the City sought to wrest control from private agencies by developing a supplemental public foster care system. This compromise over responsibility racialized the developing public foster care system of New York City, and it transformed frameworks of child protection as a social problem. The findings highlight the political salience surrounding issues of racial access in the delegated welfare state. Tracing how the conflict over access unfolded in New York City child protection provides an empirical case for understanding how the delegation of social welfare to private agencies can actually weaken racial integration efforts, generate distinct modes of social welfare inclusion, and racialize perceptions of social problems.

中文翻译：

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成为国家的监护人：1920 年代至 1960 年代为寄养融合而斗争中的种族、犯罪和童年

本文使用来自纽约市家庭关系法院的档案材料，追溯了 20 世纪初私人机构与国家在对被忽视的非裔美国儿童的责任问题上的冲突。在长期被私人儿童福利机构排斥之后，法院承担了保护所有种族儿童的公共责任。然而，在授权治理的安排中，由于私人机构的持久排斥政策，法官发现自己无法安置非白人儿童。当情况变得危急时，纽约市试图通过开发补充性公共寄养系统来从私人机构手中夺取控制权。这种对责任的妥协使纽约市发展中的公共寄养系统种族化，它将儿童保护框架转变为一个社会问题。调查结果突出了在委托福利国家中围绕种族准入问题的政治显着性。追溯纽约市儿童保护中关于获取权的冲突如何展开，为理解将社会福利委托给私人机构实际上如何削弱种族融合努力、产生独特的社会福利包容模式以及对社会问题的看法种族化提供了一个实证案例。