Other resources in child welfare

 
  • Pew Commission Calls for Changes
    The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care calls for restructuring child welfare and boosting federal financing so states have greater flexibility -- and greater accountability -- to tailor their programs for specific families and children. The Commission recommends keeping the guaranteed federal funding for child welfare and expa nding foster care and adoption assistance to all children, not just limited to those from impoverished families. It also called for making sure that courts have the tools, information, and training necessary to fulfill their responsibilities to children in public care.
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  • Child Welfare League of America Praises Pew Report's Basic Principles
    The Child Welfare League issued a statement supporting the broad principles contained in the Pew report -- particularly, the call for new federal resources to help states and communities invest in programs for families, guaranteeing the current federal support level as the starting point for additional funds, and improving conditions for the child welfare workforce by ensuring manageable caseloads and training.
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  • Children's Defense Fund Sees Opportunity for Reform in Pew Report
    The Children's Defense Fund praised the Pew Commission's report as an important opportunity to generate momentum for long overdue reforms at the federal level on behalf of abused and neglected children, especially its systemic approach to increased investments, increased flexibility, and in new ways of doing business that build on the good work already going on in selected states and communities around the country.
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  • Recommendations for Financing Foster Care: What do They Mean for Children?
    Voices for America's Children says that many of the Pew recommendations would be welcome in most states, especially federal help for financing legal guardianships so grandparents get the help they need when caring for their grandchildren. The organization is more cautious about the financing recommendations, which guarantee pre-set increases in funds for state administrative needs and family services, but may not grow at a rate that keeps pace with need.
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  • Children's Rights, Inc. Stresses Importance of Reasonable Caseloads
    Noting that organizations have set standards but the federal government has never required states to limit the number of children for whom individual workers can be responsible, Children's Rights, Inc. emphasized the importance of the Pew Commission report in helping urge Congress to pass clear, enforceable, mandated standards on reasonable caseloads, critical to meeting the medical, mental health and educational needs of abused or neglected children.
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  • Former Foster Youth: How Are They Faring?
    Illinois foster youth who become ineligible for government-funded services as they age out of the child welfare system face steep challenges on the road to adulthood, according to Chapin Hall's "Midwest Evaluation of Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth." Less than half of the young people aging out of foster care reported being offered any help with money management, finding housing or employment, or other key services. (But they were much more likely than their non-foster counterparts to receive psychological counseling, family planning services, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and substance abuse counseling.) Over one-third reported experiencing five or more school changes during their foster care stays, and half reported being in special education at some point. More than half of the foster youth reported having a history of arrest and over a third had spent the night in a correctional facility.
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  • GAO Report on Child Welfare, January 2004
    States administer the child welfare services that protect abused and neglected children -- but they could use more help from the federal government, according to the General Accounting Office. A new report examines Title IV-B of the Social Security Act -- a relatively small piece of the overall child welfare pie that funds a variety of services to protect children -- and finds that the federal government could provide more in-depth oversight to help states address challenges and do a better job. Chief among challenges states face are: hiring, training, and retaining workforces; completing effective computer systems; ensuring that data is accurate and timely; and accurately assessing needs and tailoring services to best fit the needs.
    Click here for more information (pdf file)
  • Fostering Results
    The Pew Charitable Trusts initiated support for the Children and Family Research Center at the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through a grant to the University of Illinois Foundation to launch a public education and outreach campaign called Fostering Results. The campaign will work at the national level and in selected states to highlight the need to address the federal financing mechanisms that favor foster care over other services and options for children and families and to improve court oversight of child welfare cases. Fostering Results will engage influential national and local leaders, including judges, child welfare directors and caseworkers, and advocates for youth and for foster, birth and adoptive families, using media, reports and meetings to call attention to financing and court issues. The Trusts and Fostering Results welcome additional partners to help spearhead the campaign's activities at the national level and/or in specific states.
    http://www.fosteringresults.org/
  • Children’s Bureau Express
    Children’s Bureau Express is designed for professionals concerned with child abuse and neglect, child welfare, and adoption. Children's Bureau Express is supported by the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and published by the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse.
    http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm
  • Child Welfare Resource Center
    This biannual bulletin of the Resource Center provides information on current topics important to the child welfare field. Each issue focuses on a particular topic in the area of family-centered practice.
    For more information, click here:
    http://www.cwresource.org/publications.htm
  • Administration for Children and Families
    The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a federal agency funding state, territory, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families. Actual services are provided by state, county, city and tribal governments, and public and private local agencies. ACF assists these organizations through funding, policy direction, and information services. www.acf/dhhs.gov
  • Connect 4 Kids
     Website founded by the Benton Foundation and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health.
    www.connect4kids.org
  • Workforce Development/Training Resources
    A new section of the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information Web site enables trainers, practitioners, social work educators, and other stakeholders to locate the most current workforce development/training information and materials for the child welfare workforce. This new content area will replace the former Child Welfare Training Resources Web site while providing easier access to training and workforce development resources through improved content organization and search functions. Users can search the site for training organizations, university degree programs, and related publications, or share information with colleagues about conferences and other training resources. http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/profess/workforce/index.cfm
  • Child Maltreatment 2002
    How are American children faring? The latest numbers about maltreatment are grave. Child protective service agencies received about 2,600,000 reports of possible maltreatment in 2002 -- 896,000 cases were substantiated, according to the latest national data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. About 1,400 children died of abuse or neglect. Although there have been slight improvements since 1990 -- t he rate of victimization per 1,000 children is down from 13.4 in 1990 to 12.3 in 2002 -- the numbers are still too high, say advocates.
    http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm02/index.htm

Schools of Social Work

Child Welfare/Foster Care

An information packet prepared by the National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work discusses some of the issues involved when incarcerated women give birth.
Available online (in PDF format)