In this opinion piece from Youth Today, Bill Baccaglini - president and CEO of The New York Foundling, one of the oldest and largest organizations in New York serving at-risk youth and their families - writes about the need for child welfare practitioners to "think more expansively" about their missions. "Although health, safety and permanency are crucial first steps, they are not enough and probably never should have been. We are allowing too many children to reach adulthood without providing them the tools they need to thrive," Baccaglini writes. Baccaglini believes that education is essential to children's wellbeing and that any discussion about ensuring a child's wellbeing must include education. "Education is the best path toward a successful future; and I believe that, after keeping these children safe and healthy, education should be our highest priority as child welfare professionals. We need to have a national conversation about what that means."
Baccaglini highlights promising practices and programs throughout the United States that integrate education and child welfare and calls on governments to fund more of these initiatives in order to ensure the best future for vulnerable children.