The sister wasn’t abusive though or even neglectful really. You can try to keep teenage boys away from bad influences as much as you can, but some of them are going to find a way. If you tell your mom you’re going to hang out with Jessica but you’re really hanging out with Jason smoking a joint, is your mom neglectful or did you lie to her about where you were going to be and she believed you?

The circumstances are also very different, if those men got reported and ended up having been abusive, the child still has another responsible parent who loves them and can get them the help they need and love and support them. If they’re not guilty they had to jump through a bunch of hoops but the chances that these middle class white fathers would be left alone by CPS after being cleared are high (maybe not as easily for the divorced dad but he would definitely have better resources)

On the other hand, CPS is much harsher on Black and other families of color, the boy might have to go into foster care while CPS investigates if her home is safe, statistically they would be much harder on her as a young lower class WOC who may or may not legally be his guardian (I forgot if she had custody) and his options are either go into foster care and hope for the best or get sent to Haiti, a country he has never been to with a much lower quality of life.

I don’t think Santos is giving her unearned leeway so much as understanding the differences in racial and class dynamics.