Delegated Harm: Constitutional Accountability in the Age of Privatized Child Welfare and Public Services

Delegated Harm: Constitutional Accountability in the Age of Privatized Child Welfare and Public Services

By Teresa Villa, Legal Analyst and Founder of Villa Legal Solutions

Preface: From External Rule to Internal Compass
Historically, institutional authority—whether religious, governmental, or legal served as the dominant source of moral guidance. People obeyed laws not only from fear of punishment, but because these institutions defined what was considered “right.” That obedience created order but it also stifled dissent, silenced minority voices, and often masked deep injustice behind a veil of legitimacy.

Today, that paradigm is shifting. The rise of personal autonomy, a moral compass guided by conscience, critical thinking, and lived experience—has become a driving force in everything from grassroots activism to whistleblower actions. More and more, individuals are questioning whether institutional systems still serve justice, or merely sustain power.

This is not a rejection of law. It is a demand that law earn its legitimacy.

Obedience and autonomy are not opposites. They are competing moral instincts that must be balanced. When authority protects justice—through civil rights laws, due process, and human dignity, obedience becomes moral. But when authority enables harm or hides behind bureaucracy, morality demands disobedience,

or reform.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

That is what this paper, and this movement, is about: moral resistance through legal clarity.

Satan as CEO: The Privatized Injustice of Child Support Enforcement in Colorado

When people think of corruption, they often imagine backroom deals or crooked politicians. But in Colorado’s child support enforcement system, injustice wears a suit, processes paperwork, and calls itself “compliance.” What should be a public service has morphed into a machine where harm is bureaucratized and justice is privatized.

As a legal analyst and former client of this system, I’ve spent over nine years documenting how a fraud was committed against me and ignored by those in power. My story is not unique. What I uncovered is a chilling truth: this system, designed to help children and families, has instead devastated them systematically, profitably, and silently.

A System of Contracts, Not Care

Child support enforcement in Colorado is big business. Since 1995, El Paso County has cycled through three private contractors, Maximus Inc., Policy Studies Inc. (PSI), and Young Williams P.C., each responsible for enforcing child support obligations on behalf of the county. These contracts are partially funded by federal incentives, rewarding counties for collections rather than compassion.

On paper, this sounds efficient. In reality, it opens the door to fraud, conflicts of interest, and hidden abuses of power. Legal service contractors write policy, litigate cases, and often switch sides, as several attorneys did, moving from county contracts to contractor payrolls without public disclosure.

The Real Cost: Families Torn Apart

Each time a contract changes, families are caught in the fallout. Records go missing. Affidavits are altered. False compliance letters are issued. In my own case, a fraudulent affidavit was signed by a contractor, without my knowledge or consent, and submitted to close my enforcement case prematurely. Despite this, neither the county nor the state would investigate.

Instead of seeking truth, officials issued form letters. Calls went unanswered. Prosecutors declined to act. Over over mailings, filings, and requests produced no action.

“Satan as CEO”: A Metaphor for Managed Harm
To understand what’s happening, I borrow a metaphor: “Satan as CEO.” It’s not about religion, it’s about the domestication of evil.
When injustice is bureaucratized, it loses its fangs. It becomes a form, a procedure, a policy. Those causing harm say, “We were just following the process.” But when those processes are rigged, and the players rotate between public and private positions, who holds the system accountable?

Satan doesn’t storm the gates. He gets hired, promoted, and praised for “fiscal performance.”

An Ethical Crisis Wearing a Legal Mask
At its core, this is not just about mismanagement. It is an ethical crisis.
- Private vendors control public justice, with few public checks.
- Attorneys switch sides, from county advisors to contractor lawyers—blurring ethical lines.
- Constitutional rights are bypassed—through wage garnishments, license suspensions, and coerced affidavits.
- The poor are punished, not helped.
The system incentivizes punishment over support, collection over understanding, and compliance over truth. And when people speak out? Nothing happens.
That is the greatest sin of all: knowing harm is being done, and doing nothing.

A Call to Act
The public deserves more. The children and families caught in this system deserve more. I call for:
- A full independent audit of Colorado’s child support enforcement contracts since 1995.
- Whistleblower protections for employees and clients reporting fraud.
- Reforms to prevent contract conflicts, restrict vendor, attorney role flipping, and ensure public transparency.
- Most importantly: a people-first approach to family justice.
Let us no longer accept a system where profit outweighs principle. Let us name what this is, not just inefficiency, but domesticated injustice.
And let us remember: when the state’s agents commit harm under its name, the State is responsible. If we do not act, then we, too, become complicit.
Teresa Villa 864-763-8211