I don't discount what you say in the slightest. I also know that there are plenty of kids in the system whose parents don't try to help them. Parents who need to be kept away from them entirely.
This is true. I have seen more parents outside the system that simply don't care enough or are too lazy to attempt to do anything.
Sometimes the system is a good thing. It was for us. We had a 13 year old girl who decided she was going to be on her own and would run away every time she had a chance. She was in and out of girls homes, until she was 18.
No, there was not sexual abuse or abuse in any way. She just went wild. Had we not done anything, she would have run the streets and probably ended up pregnant.
She is 30 years old now and we couldn't ask for a better daughter. It was hell for about 4 years when this was taking place. It turned out well.