Title
Baby Cooperatives: Rethinking the Nature of Family
Recommended Citation
Michele Bratcher Goodwin and Naomi Duke, Baby Cooperatives: Rethinking the Nature of Family Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper Series (2012).
Abstract
The foster care funding system is rooted in historic ideology rather than pragmatic reasoning suited to children’s needs today. It creates perverse economic incentives and promotes rent-seeking behavior; as a result, it bears poor outcomes. Baby Cooperatives provides a new way of thinking of family that develops a contact-based, civil union model and expands it to permit 2-5 persons to join in a legalized parenting “family.” The article explains the policy framework, and sets forth and applies an eight-point test that such cooperatives must meet.