Lauren J. Silver: System Kids: Adolescent Mothers and the Politics of Regulation

Lauren Silver’s System Kids: Adolescent Mothers and the Politics of Regulation offers personal insight into the lives of young mothers and the case managers who oversee them in the Supervised Independent Living program (SIL). To encourage reform, it unveils how the system has failed and most importantly the reason why it has gotten thus far. Through every chapter, Silver demonstrates stratification within the system by the social hierarchy and physical locations of the upper administrators, caseworkers, and young families as well as the further classification of the girls into either dependents or delinquents. She illustrates the unrealistic expectations placed on the girls and the numerous jobs and responsibilities placed on the caseworkers that press them to cut corners and break rules. The lack of resources and security along with inconsistent practices cause a culture of fear. Silver concludes with solutions to change the program instead of completely doing away with it and offers her thoughts on her entire experience. System Kids starts heavy with enlightening and disheartening information but gradually becomes an advocate’s repetitive lecture. However, through her own personal experience and research conducted by others, Silver makes an exceptionally compelling case against the current system’s policies, practices, and overall functionality. …