In his speech accepting the Republican nomination for vice president, JD Vance delivered a deeply personal tribute to his mother, who is 10 years sober. He tethered her journey to the vision for America that got him elected.
“Our movement is about single moms like mine, who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up,” Vance told the crowd in Milwaukee. “And, you know, Mom, I was thinking. It’ll be 10 years officially in January of 2025, and if President Trump’s OK with it, let’s have the celebration in the White House.”
The crowd erupted in applause after this powerful story of redemption and the love between a mother and son.
As the director of the nation’s only law clinic dedicated to representing parents in termination of parental rights appeals, I can only hope Vance means it. Because for far too many parents, our child welfare systems make the kind of connection he and his mother have impossible.
Vance’s life story provides a unique lens through which the nation can reimagine its approach to child welfare policy. His own experiences highlight the sanctity of family relationships and the importance of giving parents the chance to recover and rebuild bonds with their children. These values should form the foundation of the Trump administration’s child welfare agenda.
Vance’s childhood struggles are well known. His mother’s opioid addiction began innocently enough — she took Vicodin for a headache while working as a nurse. Like so many others in the opioid crisis, she quickly became addicted, spiraling into dependency on harder drugs. Unable to care for her son, she subjected Vance to dangerous situations: forcing him to help her cheat on drug tests, threatening to crash their car and kill them both, and exposing him to dangerous men.
But Vance’s life took a different path — not because of state intervention, but because of his grandmother, Mamaw, who stepped in to provide him with a stable, loving home. Her presence allowed him to maintain a relationship with his mother, despite her struggles. Vance’s love for his mother endured, even through the pain she caused.
“I knew deep down that she loved me, and I loved me, but that wasn’t enough to stop the pain she caused,” he wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy,” his bestselling book. “Still, I wanted to forgive her, because at the end of the day, she was my mom.”
Compare that with the outcome of two recent cases from our clinic. One involved a 3-year-old boy living safely with his grandmother. His father permanently lost his parental rights — not because he didn’t love his son, but because he struggled with an addiction to pain medication after a work injury. Another case involved two brothers deeply connected to their mother, who were cut off from her permanently because she battled alcoholism that began after she endured sexual abuse at age 12.
In both cases, the children were bonded with their parents and living safely with kin. Yet the child welfare system severed their ties forever, erasing any chance of reconciliation. And this is a fate that befalls about 50,000 children each year — often without true necessity, and even when children are stable and safe with their families.
Research shows that severing these relationships can have devastating, lifelong consequences for children. Ambiguous loss — when a parent is alive but legally erased from a child’s life — leaves children grappling with confusion, helplessness and grief. Even when not living with their parents, children often maintain psychological ties to them, and the loss of those connections can deeply affect their sense of identity and emotional well-being. Above all else, young people consistently report that maintaining emotional bonds with the people they love is what matters most.
For parents, the termination of parental rights can be equally damaging. They become legal strangers to their own children, losing the right to communicate with them or even know where they are. For parents already struggling with addiction or mental health issues, this final severance often pushes them deeper into despair.
As vice president, JD Vance has an unparalleled platform to champion child welfare reform that honors the sanctity of family relationships. His administration should prioritize policies that support families in crisis, expand kinship care options and reduce unnecessary terminations of parental rights.
He can start by calling for federal legislation that only allows states to seek termination of parental rights when no other alternative is available to safeguard a child. He could also ensure that federal subsidies are equally available to caregivers — both relatives and non-relatives — willing to serve as guardians for children, instead of seeking adoption, which requires termination of parental rights. Vance’s own life is a testament to the profound impact of maintaining family bonds, even in the face of hardship.
I hope there is a grand, well-publicized celebration at the White House for Vance’s mom. And I hope it helps spur a movement to reimagine a child welfare system that prioritizes and protects the family bonds that children need most. For a child, the opportunity to heal a fractured relationship is far more important than the finality of losing it forever.
