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This bulletin outlines the importance of disaster planning in child welfare and discusses how caseworkers, with the help of their supervisors, can prepare themselves and the children, youth, and families on their caseloads for emergencies. It also provides direction for child welfare staff on response and recovery strategies they can use should disasters occur in their communities.
Has the US Child Welfare System Become an Informal Income Maintenance Programme? A Literature Review
Abstract
Anti‐poverty policies and income maintenance programmes aim to reduce poverty and income inequality, yet rates of poverty and income inequality have remained stable or increased in 20 of 29 developed nations. Although poverty and income inequality have increased in the USA, the depth and reach of income maintenance programmes have eroded, placing undue strain on other societal systems like education and child welfare. The burden of poverty on child welfare is troubling given the strong association between poverty and child welfare involvement. We conducted a literature review to…
Abstract
Foster youth in the U.S. often face a multitude of adverse outcomes, including low educational attainment, elevated rates of adult poverty, and disproportionately high levels of adult homelessness. One newer area of social policy research/advocacy, asset building, can help explain some of these disparities. Foster youth face several barriers to asset building; many youth have had several placements during their stay in foster care, receiving inconsistent schooling, mentoring, and support, and facing limited opportunities to work or save money – all challenges to both social and…
Executive Summary
When announced in December 2014, the Partnering for Family Success (PFS) program was among the first Pay for Success projects in the United States and was the first sponsored by a U.S. county (Cuyahoga County, Ohio). With funding from Reinvestment Fund, The George Gund Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, and Nonprofit Finance Fund, the project was conceived as an innovative intervention to address the particular needs of housing unstable families who had a child in the custody of the county child welfare agency. As part of…
Abstract
Financial hardship is one of the most challenging issues faced by kinship foster care families. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and foster care payments are potential sources of financial assistance for kinship families. This study used wave 2 of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (NSCAW II) to develop a new typology of kinship care based on financial mechanisms, including: (1) families that received TANF only (TANF only); (2) families that received foster care payments only (FC only); (3) families that received both TANF benefits and…
Abstract
Foster care caseloads, an indicator of child maltreatment, are increasing. Children living in poverty are significantly more likely to be reported to the child welfare system and are overrepresented in foster care. Thus, it is critical to identify prevention strategies that can stem the flow of foster care entries, particularly among populations at higher risk. We used variations in the adoption and refund status of state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a socioeconomic policy intended to reduce poverty, to examine their effect on foster care entry rates. Fixed-effects…
Abstract
Child welfare-involved homeless families are at greater risk of poor social and economic outcomes compared with homeless families not involved with child welfare, and these negative outcomes reverberate in terms of economic and social costs to society. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine process findings from a randomized control trial from the first county-level Pay for Success initiative, Partnering for Family Success. The research compared housing, child welfare and public assistance outcomes for the treatment (N = 90) and control (N…
Over the past decade, policymakers and child welfare practitioners in the US increasingly recognize that youth who experience foster care need continued support past age 18. As a result, policymakers have increased funding to support young people ages 18 and older who are in and/or transitioning from foster care. Within this new funding environment, however, little is known about how funding streams come together to provide supports for this population. This report draws on interviews the authors conducted with 19 child welfare leaders in eight jurisdictions to highlight how jurisdictions are…
Abstract
Importance Physical abuse and neglect affect a significant number of children in the United States. The 2014 Medicaid expansion, in which several states opted to expand their Medicaid programs, is associated with parental financial stability and access to mental health care.
Objective To determine whether Medicaid expansion is associated with changes in physical abuse and neglect rates.
Design, Setting, and Participants This ecological study used state-level National Child Abuse and Neglect…
Executive Summary
In 2012, the Children’s Bureau in the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families funded Partnerships to Demonstrate the Effectiveness of Supportive Housing for Families in the Child Welfare System, a five-year, $25 million demonstration that provided supportive housing to families in the child welfare system, in five sites:
- Housing, Empowerment, Achievement, Recovery, and Triumph Alliance for Sustainable Families—Broward County, Florida
- Partners United for Supportive Housing in Cedar Rapids—Cedar Rapids,…