Displaying 31 - 40 of 123
In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2014, child welfare agencies in the United States spent $12.8 billion in federal funds to protect and promote the well-being of children who are at risk of, or have been victims of, maltreatment. Federal spending accounted for slightly less than half of the $29.1 billion in total child welfare agency spending in SFY 2014.
Because child welfare services are administered locally, either through state or county-administered systems, there is variation in how child welfare agencies use federal funds. This brief highlights variation among states in child welfare…
Abstract
This study from the Special Issue on Kinship Care of the Child Welfare Journal examined the impact of a kinship supports intervention implemented in 16 children services agencies. Children placed with kin experienced greater stability, reached permanency more quickly, and were less likely to experience subsequent maltreatment or re-enter care than children placed in non-relative foster care. Furthermore, children receiving intervention services experienced shorter, more stable placements than children placed with kin…
Abstract
Modern-day conceptions of American childhood and family situate children, and the labor required to rear them, outside of the wage labor market. This ethnographic study of a foster care adoption program shows how board payments elicit commodification anxiety at this local site, and in American culture more broadly. In using board payments as a litmus test to weed out parents with profiteering motives, workers inadvertently play into a model that devalues care work—which is disproportionately done by women and minorities. This study places everyday casework into the context of…
To provide objective analyses about the effects of prevention and treatment programs on child welfare outcomes, RAND researchers built a quantitative model that simulated how children enter and flow through the US child welfare system. They then used the model to project how different policy options (preventive services, family preservation treatment efforts, kinship care treatment efforts, and a policy package that combined preventive services and kinship care) would affect a child's pathway through the system, costs, and outcomes in early adulthood. This study is the first attempt to…
Predictive Analytics in Child Welfare An Assessment of Current Efforts, Challenges and Opportunities
Child welfare agencies are interested in leveraging new and emerging techniques to help them harness data and technology to make dramatic improvements to child welfare practice and ultimately produce better outcomes for children and families. This document explores the state of the use of predictive analytics in child welfare by conducting an environmental scan of child welfare agencies, academia, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit vendors. Topics discussed in qualitative interviews included how each jurisdiction uses predictive analytics to support child welfare practice, the challenges…
Abstract
Although foster care homes play a crucial role in providing stable placements to children who enter the child welfare system due to maltreatment, there is currently no federal minimum rate nor standard methodology to establish adequate rates to support foster parents to meet these children's needs. Therefore, it is important to establish a model to estimate the real costs associated with caring for children to serve as a foundation for states to set adequate reimbursement rates. The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to…
Abstract
Although foster care homes play a crucial role in providing stable placements to children who enter the child welfare system due to maltreatment, there is currently no federal minimum rate nor standard methodology to establish adequate rates to support foster parents to meet these children's needs. Therefore, it is important to establish a model to estimate the real costs associated with caring for children to serve as a foundation for states to set adequate reimbursement rates. The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to establish foster care…
Abstract
Socio-environmental factors such as poverty, psychosocial services, and social services spending all could influence the challenges faced by vulnerable families. This paper examines the extent to which socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial service consultations, and preventative social services spending impacts the reunification for children placed in out-of-home care. This study uses a multilevel longitudinal research design that draws data from three sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data from Quebec’s child protection agencies; (2) 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census data…
This document sheds some light on where funding discussions currently stand with regard to U.S. government programs for global children and youth issues. The information is presented according to relevant funding accounts within various appropriations bills. Some issues, such as trafficking, are addressed in multiple funding accounts through various U.S. government departments, agencies, and offices. Other issues, such as early childhood development and protection from violence are referenced under certain accounts without specific appropriations. U.S. government assistance for vulnerable…
Abstract
Socio-environmental factors such as poverty, psychosocial services, and social services spending all could influence the challenges faced by vulnerable families. This paper examines the extent to which socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial service consultations, and preventative social services spending impacts the reunification for children placed in out-of-home care. This study uses a multilevel longitudinal research design that draws data from three sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data from Quebec’s child protection agencies; (2) 2006 and 2011…