If my home life is in such a shambles that my children are in danger of being put in foster care, I can’t think of anything more useless than marriage counseling. Most kids end up in foster care because they’re being abused or neglected by one or both parents. Severino is suggesting not removing children from abusive and neglectful situations, but counseling their parents on “healthy relationships.” Statistics suggest that the majority of abusers NEVER STOP. Counseling regarding how to safely leave an abusive relationship and help doing so would be far more appropriate here. Note that I am not at all against marriage and relationship counseling, nor against the federal government helping to offer it. I AM against using marriage counseling as a substitute for removing children from abusive situations.

Full contextual analysis of Section 3.5: Department of Health and Human Services here.