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Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. These children exhibit poor outcomes as children and adults, and economists have begun to estimate the causal relationship between foster care and life outcomes.
This paper describes tradeoffs in child welfare policy in the United States and provides background on the latest trends in foster care practice to highlight areas most in need of rigorous…
Abstract
Government efforts toward the prevention, detection, and investigation of child abuse and neglect are carried out through the United States’ child welfare system—a complex web of programs that provide family assistance and promote child safety. Most funding for these activities is split among federal, state, and local governments and comprises specific child welfare–related funding (such as Titles IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act) and non–child welfare funding that is spent on programs that support poor and disadvantaged families (Medicaid and TANF). I provide an overview…
Abstract
Background
Funding for prevention interventions is often quite limited. Cost-related assessments are important to best allocate prevention funds.
Objectives
To determine the (1) overall cost for implementing the Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) model, (2) cost of implementation per child, and (3) cost per case of maltreatment averted.
Design
Cost-effective analysis of a randomized controlled trial.
Participants and setting
102 pediatric providers at 18 pediatric primary care practices. 924 families with children < 6 years receiving care by those…
This report from First Focus on Children presents analysis of the U.S. spending on children and children's services, including child welfare, in 2020. This year’s Children’s Budget includes, for the first time, a deeper analysis of how the federal budget impacts children in spending when it comes to U.S. international affairs budget, which is spent across seven departments and agencies, including the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The authors estimate the children’s share of that spending at around 9 percent and find that this funding is so limited it…
Abstract
Little information is available regarding the financial and non-financial costs of implementing and sustaining universal trauma and mental health screening in state child welfare systems. A cost analysis was conducted as part of a 5-year, federally funded statewide demonstration project to install universal trauma screening in one state’s child welfare system. The project implemented a battery of validated instruments that varied by age of the child (0–18) to measure trauma exposure, post-traumatic symptoms and child well-being. All adjudicated children and youth involved in the…
Abstract
The IV-E Waivers and Family First Prevention Services Act prioritize prevention services, including services that reduce out-of-home placements. Placement in out-of-home care is associated with a variety of adverse outcomes as well as high costs to society. Studies that focus on utilization of health services suggest that these costs are not evenly distributed among recipients, and that high utilizers make up a small percentage of individuals who utilize a disproportionate share of resources. The purpose of the paper is to examine child characteristics and child welfare services…
This brief from Head Start provides an overview of state funding for Head Start, a collection of comprehensive birth to five programs in the U.S. specifically designed to strengthen families, promote school readiness, and improve child health. Among other outcomes, the Head Start programs strengthen families and promote more positive parent-child relationships, more stable and healthy homes, and less child welfare involvement. The brief provides examples of how state investments in Head Start have helped to improve outcomes for at-risk children and families.
Child welfare agencies across the United States protect and promote the welfare of children and youth who are at risk of, or who have been victims of, maltreatment. The collective public investment by state and local child welfare agencies totaled $29.9 billion in federal, state, and local funds in state fiscal year (SFY) 2016. To put this amount in context, total federal spending in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2016 was $3.9 trillion (Angres and Costantino, 2017).
State and local child welfare agencies rely on multiple funding streams to administer programs and services. At least seven…
This document from Casey Family Programs reviews data on Family Resource Centers and other family support services in the US. In reviewing the family resource center and other family support data, it is clear that many of these kinds of services have much to offer child welfare and broader community efforts that are interested in strengthening families so they do not need child welfare services or use them for a shorter period of time. While more studies are needed, it appears that some family resource centers have been able to reduce family poverty, parent isolation, deficits in…
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…