When covering the complicated, often opaque web known as the child welfare system, it can be easy to forget the first word of that phrase: child. It’s imperative that we don’t. Reporters should center kids and families in  ways that give them agency and avoid retraumatizing them, at least to the extent that’s possible. That means thinking about welfare and children holistically, taking into account their short- and long-term mental well-being. Here are three other lessons reporters should know about covering topics like child abuse and neglect, the foster care system and keeping families together. 1. Question everything And that includes whether to call it the “child welfare system” or “child protective services” at all. The stated goal of said system is to protect children from harm. But research shows kids who come out of foster care often struggle as adults . Officials will say they don’t judge poverty as neglect, which underpins most investigations.…