The document provides an overview of recent federal child welfare policy and legislation. It discusses the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 which aims to address child sex trafficking, promote permanency, and allow for normalcy for foster youth. It also summarizes proposals from the President's 2016 budget, Senator Wyden regarding prevention services, and Senator Hatch related to reducing congregate care. The document analyzes implementation opportunities and challenges of the new laws and policies.
This presentation highlights ways states can reduce the use of Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) and improve permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care.
The webinar, “Getting to Permanence: The Practices of High-Performing Child Welfare Agencies,” highlights the importance of prioritizing family relationships and ensuring children and teens in foster care have enduring connections to loving, nurturing adults in their lives.
This webinar was developed by Child Trends for the Office of
Adolescent Health (OAH) as a technical assistance product for use with OAH grant programs.
In a webinar in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Using What Works to Improve Child Well-Being series, an expert panel discusses how the Youth Experience Survey, one of the key tools in the Evidence2Success framework, generates data on risk and protective factors that help communities address problems for youth before they start.
Policy recommendations designed to transform federal funding to support best practices in child welfare were the focus of this presentation delivered by Tracey Feild and Patrick McCarthy at an October 23, 2013, briefing on Capitol Hill.
The Office of Adolescent Health was established in 2010 within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at HHS in order to advance best practices to improve the health and well-being of America’s adolescents.
This video is part of the Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow℠ (TAG) webinar series on successful strategies for improving adolescent health. Suzanne Elder shares information about Chicago's youth-focused agenda.
In the latest webinar in the Using What Works series highlighting tools of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Evidence2Success framework, experts described the components of a strategic financing plan for programs proven to work for children and families and new financing approaches being adopted around the country.
Issue #10: Mentoring: A Promising Intervention for Children of Prisoners
This series was developed by MENTOR and translates the latest mentoring research into tangible strategies for mentoring practitioners. Research In Action (RIA) makes the best available research accessible and relevant to the mentoring field.
This video is part of the Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow℠ (TAG) webinar series on successful strategies for improving adolescent health. Sue Catchings discusses the strategy of using school-based health centers to support youth and engage them in health.
Authentic youth engagement is critical to improving outcomes for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. This point recently was emphasized in Maximizing Youth Engagement in Court Reviews and Case Planning, a webinar hosted by the Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
Tackle troublesome behavior among youths before it leads to poor outcomes like violence, delinquency, dropping out of school, substance abuse and teen pregnancy. That lies at the heart of “prevention science.
Sarad Davenport - "Changing the Ecosystem to Support Youth of Color: The Prom...youth_nex
Director, Charlottesville Promise Neighborhood
Part of the Youth-Nex Conference: Youth of Color Matter: Reducing Inequalities Through Positive Youth Development #YoCM15
panel 3 - "Community Initiatives Supporting Youth of Color"
This panel will highlight work being done by individuals in local communities to support the positive development of youth of color. Representatives from three initiatives will discuss how they are working to transform communities and empower young people. The session hopes to inspire and empower each of us to take action!
This presentation highlights ways states can reduce the use of Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) and improve permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care.
The webinar, “Getting to Permanence: The Practices of High-Performing Child Welfare Agencies,” highlights the importance of prioritizing family relationships and ensuring children and teens in foster care have enduring connections to loving, nurturing adults in their lives.
This webinar was developed by Child Trends for the Office of
Adolescent Health (OAH) as a technical assistance product for use with OAH grant programs.
In a webinar in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Using What Works to Improve Child Well-Being series, an expert panel discusses how the Youth Experience Survey, one of the key tools in the Evidence2Success framework, generates data on risk and protective factors that help communities address problems for youth before they start.
Policy recommendations designed to transform federal funding to support best practices in child welfare were the focus of this presentation delivered by Tracey Feild and Patrick McCarthy at an October 23, 2013, briefing on Capitol Hill.
The Office of Adolescent Health was established in 2010 within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at HHS in order to advance best practices to improve the health and well-being of America’s adolescents.
This video is part of the Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow℠ (TAG) webinar series on successful strategies for improving adolescent health. Suzanne Elder shares information about Chicago's youth-focused agenda.
In the latest webinar in the Using What Works series highlighting tools of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Evidence2Success framework, experts described the components of a strategic financing plan for programs proven to work for children and families and new financing approaches being adopted around the country.
Issue #10: Mentoring: A Promising Intervention for Children of Prisoners
This series was developed by MENTOR and translates the latest mentoring research into tangible strategies for mentoring practitioners. Research In Action (RIA) makes the best available research accessible and relevant to the mentoring field.
This video is part of the Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow℠ (TAG) webinar series on successful strategies for improving adolescent health. Sue Catchings discusses the strategy of using school-based health centers to support youth and engage them in health.
Authentic youth engagement is critical to improving outcomes for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood. This point recently was emphasized in Maximizing Youth Engagement in Court Reviews and Case Planning, a webinar hosted by the Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
Tackle troublesome behavior among youths before it leads to poor outcomes like violence, delinquency, dropping out of school, substance abuse and teen pregnancy. That lies at the heart of “prevention science.
Sarad Davenport - "Changing the Ecosystem to Support Youth of Color: The Prom...youth_nex
Director, Charlottesville Promise Neighborhood
Part of the Youth-Nex Conference: Youth of Color Matter: Reducing Inequalities Through Positive Youth Development #YoCM15
panel 3 - "Community Initiatives Supporting Youth of Color"
This panel will highlight work being done by individuals in local communities to support the positive development of youth of color. Representatives from three initiatives will discuss how they are working to transform communities and empower young people. The session hopes to inspire and empower each of us to take action!
NC Department of Health and Human Services, Prevent Child Abuse NC, NC Child, and The Duke Endowment partnered to host a kickoff informational session for the Family First Prevention Services Act ( FFPSA). This was an opportunity for child welfare stakeholders to learn, ask questions and engage in the planning process of this important legislation.
We encourage you to go through the slides from the meeting and watch the recorded live stream of the event: https://mckimmon.online.ncsu.edu/online/Play/cba18d3338844fcbac8e31170dee1c611d
After reading the report on services in Georgia, write a short paper.docxADDY50
After reading the report on services in Georgia, write a short paper that provides a summary of what it says. Explain how a market analysis was accomplished, how this information was used to determine the outcome of existing services, and how it was used to design services. Then provide an opinion on how this information could be useful in advocating for expansion of services.
Executive Summary
This report details the results of a mixed-method community outreach effort conducted by the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) as part of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta’s Champions for Children with Exceptional Needs Initiative (Champions).
The purpose of this outreach effort is (1) to provide a systematic examination of the existing gaps in service and support for families with medically fragile and special needs children in Georgia and (2) to compile a list of service delivery options gathered from the community outreach efforts that could be provided to families through the funding of an appropriate nonprofit or network of nonprofits across Georgia. The report will be shared with The Community Foundation and the Champions Advisory Committee to guide them in the distribution of at least $2.2 million that has been appropriated by the Georgia Legislature to meet the needs of this population.
Data collection for the Initiative used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore the experience of families with special needs and medically fragile children. The quantitative component included a Medicaid claims analysis of children eligible for the Katie Beckett Waiver program during Calendar Year 2005. The qualitative data collection methods for the community outreach effort included:
Three focus groups with parents of special needs and medically fragile children;
Sixteen Key Informant interviews with parents, advocates, representatives from local and
state-wide non-profit agencies and medical providers;
Two community forums structured to present data collected in the needs assessment and
outreach and gather suggestions/feedback from community members regarding possible service delivery models.
Medicaid Claims Analysis
Findings from the Medicaid claims analysis of children who received services through the Katie Beckett Waiver program in 2005 exemplify the needs of many medically-fragile children in Georgia. In Calendar Year 2005 (CY2005), there were 6,572 children enrolled in Medicaid through the Katie Beckett class of assistance. The descriptive analysis of the Katie Beckett enrollees found that:
95% (6,130) of the Katie Beckett children submitted at least one Medicaid claim during the year. The top two diagnoses, specific delays in development and psychoses with origin specific to childhood (infantile autism, disintegrative psychosis and schizophrenia) comprise 28% of all the outpatient claims.
The average Medicaid reimbursement per Katie Beckett recipient was $5,033 in CY2005. The services that Medicaid paid .
Since its expansion in 2014, Ohio’s Medicaid program has played a critical role in cutting the number of uninsured Ohioans almost in half. With talk of repealing the Affordable Care Act at the federal level, what are the implications on Ohio’s budget process?
Speakers include:
- Loren Anthes, Public Policy Fellow, Medicaid Policy Center, The Center for Community Solutions
- Wendy Patton, Senior Project Director, Policy Matters Ohio
- Brandi Slaughter, Chief Executive Officer, Voices for Ohio’s Children
The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative’s webinar, “Model Extension of Care and Re-Entry Policies — Creating a Legal Structure that Promotes Engagement,” explores key components of a youth-engaging extended foster care system. This session explores model programs and policies in various states as well as reform plans.
2 0 1 6 S t a t e Fa c t S h e e t sChild Care in America.docxvickeryr87
2 0 1 6 S t a t e Fa c t S h e e t s
Child Care in America:
Every week in the United States, child care providers care for nearly 11
million children younger than age 5 whose parents are working. On
average, these children spend 36 hours a week in child care, and one
quarter (nearly 3 million) are in multiple child care arrangements due to
the traditional and nontraditional working hours of their parents.1
Research has continually illustrated the importance of quality early
experiences in achieving good health, especially within the most
vulnerable populations. Families, child care providers and state and
federal policymakers share responsibility for the safety and wellbeing
of children while they are in child care settings. Basic state
requirements and oversight help lay the foundation necessary to
protect children and promote their healthy development while in child
care.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program
serves approximately 1.45 million children annually in communities
across the country. CCDBG is the primary federal grant program that
provides child care assistance for families and funds child care quality
initiatives. Funds are administered to states in formula block grants,
and states use the grants to subsidize child care for low-income
working families.
In November 2014, President Barack Obama signed S.1086, the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 into law. The new law
includes several measures focused on quality, including requiring
states to:
Promote quality child care by increasing activities to improve
the care, enhancing states’ ability to train providers and develop
safer and more effective child care services.
Strengthen health and safety requirements in child care
programs and providers.
Improve access to child care by expanding eligibility for
participating families and helping families connect with quality
programs that meet their needs by enhancing consumer
education, providing greater options for quality child care and
working to ensure continuity of care, essential for both the well-
being and stability of a child.2
With the new federal child care measures set to take effect, states are
rapidly building, evaluating, and changing their early care and
education quality focused systems (Quality Rating and Improvement
System (QRIS), professional development, licensing and standards).
Implementation of the new regulations must align with these efforts for
sustainability and maximum impact.
Over the past several years, Child Care Aware® of America has
surveyed and conducted focus groups with parents of young children,
grandparents, national child advocacy organizations, and state and
local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies. Those
conversations underscored that child care is an essential building block
1 U.S.
Children's Services Council of Broward County, Systemic Model of Preventioncscbroward
Research Analyst Laura Ganci and Program Specialist Melissa Stanley of the Children's Services Council of Broward County, hosted a webinar for the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association on Implementing a Collaborative Approach to Child Welfare.
The Children's Services Council of Broward County provides leadership, advocacy and resources necessary to enhance children's lives and empower them to become responsible, productive adults. To learn more, visit us online at www.cscbroward.org and on social media at www.facebook.com/cscbroward; www.twitter.com/cscbroward; and www.youtube.com/cscbroward
Have you ever wondered how search works while visiting an e-commerce site, internal website, or searching through other types of online resources? Look no further than this informative session on the ways that taxonomies help end-users navigate the internet! Hear from taxonomists and other information professionals who have first-hand experience creating and working with taxonomies that aid in navigation, search, and discovery across a range of disciplines.
0x01 - Newton's Third Law: Static vs. Dynamic AbusersOWASP Beja
f you offer a service on the web, odds are that someone will abuse it. Be it an API, a SaaS, a PaaS, or even a static website, someone somewhere will try to figure out a way to use it to their own needs. In this talk we'll compare measures that are effective against static attackers and how to battle a dynamic attacker who adapts to your counter-measures.
About the Speaker
===============
Diogo Sousa, Engineering Manager @ Canonical
An opinionated individual with an interest in cryptography and its intersection with secure software development.
Acorn Recovery: Restore IT infra within minutesIP ServerOne
Introducing Acorn Recovery as a Service, a simple, fast, and secure managed disaster recovery (DRaaS) by IP ServerOne. A DR solution that helps restore your IT infra within minutes.
Sharpen existing tools or get a new toolbox? Contemporary cluster initiatives...Orkestra
UIIN Conference, Madrid, 27-29 May 2024
James Wilson, Orkestra and Deusto Business School
Emily Wise, Lund University
Madeline Smith, The Glasgow School of Art
This presentation by Morris Kleiner (University of Minnesota), was made during the discussion “Competition and Regulation in Professions and Occupations” held at the Working Party No. 2 on Competition and Regulation on 10 June 2024. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found out at oe.cd/crps.
This presentation was uploaded with the author’s consent.
This presentation, created by Syed Faiz ul Hassan, explores the profound influence of media on public perception and behavior. It delves into the evolution of media from oral traditions to modern digital and social media platforms. Key topics include the role of media in information propagation, socialization, crisis awareness, globalization, and education. The presentation also examines media influence through agenda setting, propaganda, and manipulative techniques used by advertisers and marketers. Furthermore, it highlights the impact of surveillance enabled by media technologies on personal behavior and preferences. Through this comprehensive overview, the presentation aims to shed light on how media shapes collective consciousness and public opinion.
3. • The national child welfare landscape: Budget and Data
• Overview of P.L. 113-183, The Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act of 2014
• Key opportunities and challenges regarding implementation
• New child welfare legislation on the horizon
• Questions
What I’ll Cover: Federal Legislative Update
4. • More than 1.7 million will live in poverty
• More than 73,000 of those children will be abused or neglected
• More than 560,000 will not have health coverage
• More than 3.3 million will be the children of immigrants, many living in
fear that the government will take their parents away
• 4 million will not be enrolled in pre-kindergarten
Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT Data Center
8 Million Reasons to Invest In Kids
6. Cutting Investments in Kids Disproportionately
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Children’s share of overall spending has
dropped by 7.2% in five years
8.50%
7.89%
7. Investments in Kids Disproportionately Cut
-9.4%
-4.1%
-10.0%
-8.0%
-6.0%
-4.0%
-2.0%
0.0%
Children Overall
% Drop in Federal Spending
2011-2015 (inflation-adjusted)
8. Real Discretionary Children’s Spending Down
90.42
82.26 79.95
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Investments in children down 11.6% since
83.40 78.84
85.91
10. Real Child Abuse and Neglect Funding Down 10.1%
10.56
9.22 9.49
0
5
10
15
20
25
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
9.77 9.22 9.20
11. 1. Annie E. Casey Foundations’ KIDS COUNT Data Center
Overview of Federal Child Welfare Financing
IV-E SSBG TANF XIX IV-B
Prevention No X X Only as
health
program
X
In Home
Support
Limited X X Limited X
Foster Care X X X X Limited
Adoption/
Guardianship
X X X Only as
health
program
Limited
Post
Permanency
Limited X X Limited X
Total Federal Spending = $12.7 billion
State/Local Spending = $15.4 billion
Title IV-E
51%
Title IV-B
5%
TANF
22%
SSBG
12%
Medicaid
8%
Other
3%
12. Child Welfare Financing: The National Dialogue
• Declining federal investment
• Competition for federal resources among systems that support various
needy populations
• Federal investments are not aligned with what works best
• Largest federal funding source is inflexible
• Accountability for outcomes is not adequate
13. Percent of Total Spending from Federal vs. State Sources
51
48
46
43
46
45
50
52
54
57
54 54
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
Federal
State and Local
14. The Cost of Doing Nothing
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
15. The Cost of Doing Nothing, Continued
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
16. Title IV-B: Also Declining
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation
17. The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)
2.8
1.7
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3$billions
Social Services Block Grant Appropriations
P.L. 104-193 sets new
ceiling of $2.38 billion
P.L. 105-178
sets new
ceiling of
$1.7 billion
President’s
budget
included
$.5 billion
cut H.R. 5652
repeals SSBG
H.Rept. 112-58
recommends repeal
of SSBG
“The Committee…has determined that the SSBG program has
critical program flaws that argue for its elimination…The following
key flaws in the SSBG program reflect how it clearly does not serve
taxpayers well: No focus… Duplicative…No state partnership…No
accountability”
18. Other Federal Priorities
• Over-prescription of psychotropic drugs among youth in foster
care
• Overreliance on congregate care
• Increasing kinship placements
• Incentivizing prevention services to keep children in their own
homes
19. Key Child Welfare Reform Opportunities
• Implementation of the Strengthening Families Act
• The President’s FY 2016 Budget Proposal
• New Legislation in Congress
• Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
• Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
20. Strengthening Families Act: Three Major Focus Areas
Domestic Child Sex Trafficking
Increasing Permanency for Children and Youth in Foster Care
Promoting Normalcy Among Children and Youth in Foster Care
21. Provisions to Address Child Sex Trafficking
• Requires states to identify, collect and report data and determine appropriate services for victims
of sex trafficking. (Within 1 year, states must develop policies and procedures (including
caseworker training) to identify, document, and determine appropriate services; within 2 years,
title IV-E agencies must demonstrate that they are implementing these policies and procedures.)
• Establishes a National Advisory Committee to develop guidelines for states and federal
government. (Within two years HHS must create committee of up to 21 individuals; committee
will produce an interim report within three years of its inception and final report within four
years on best practices.)
• Requires states to develop plans to expeditiously locate any child missing from foster care and
screen for victims of sex trafficking. (Within 1 year)
• Includes sex trafficking data in AFCARS. (Within 3 years)
22. Permanency Provisions: APPLA
• Prohibits states from using the case goal of APPLA for children younger than
16;
• Children under 16 must have a case goal of returning home, adoption,
guardianship, or placement with a relative;
• For youth 16 and older, who may still have a case goal of APPLA, states must
document ongoing efforts to achieve permanency and the rationale for why the
other permanency options are not in the best interests of this particular youth
23. Other Permanency Provisions
• Extended the Adoption Incentive Program for three years to September 30, 2016 and authorized
$43 million per year.
• Required HHS to collect data on adoptions and legal guardianships that end either after
disruptions or during the disruption process;
• Ensured that children remain eligible for Title IV-E guardianship assistance if their first legal
guardian dies or is unable to care for them and they are placed with a successor guardian
identified in the IV-E guardianship assistance agreement;
• Requires notification of parents who are caring for a child through foster care or adoption if a
sibling of that child enters foster care
• Reauthorized the Family Connections Grants: funds kinship navigator programs, family finding
efforts, family group decision making programs, and residential family treatment programs.
• “De-linked” Title IV-E adoption assistance from outdated AFDC standards and required that
states spend 30% of the savings on post- adoption and -guardianship services.
24. What is “Normalcy”?
• Normalcy = age and developmentally appropriate activities that allow children
and youth to grow
• Being able to engage in activities that are considered “routine” for many
teenagers
• Opportunities for additional responsibilities and freedoms
• The crucial role adults in adolescent development through providing
appropriate supervision and boundaries
25. Normalcy in the Context of Child Welfare
• Child welfare agencies are inherently risk-averse
• Safety concerns often trump goals of permanency and well-being
• Result: Caregivers rarely given the authority to make these day-to-day decisions
• Foster youth must navigate through multiple levels of permission,
authorization, and even court hearings to do things that most parents
routinely allow their teenagers to do
26. Normalcy Provisions: Support to Older Youth
• Requires youth in care aged 14 and older can help develop their own case plan,
including identifying up to two trusted adults who can be part of the case
planning team;
• Requires child welfare agencies to provide written information to youth about
their rights related to their health, visitation, and participation in court;
• Requires child welfare agencies to provide youth who are 18 and have spent at
least six months with copies of the following documents: birth certificate, Social
Security card, health insurance information, medical records, and state-issued ID;
• Requires child welfare agencies to provide young people age 14 and older with a
free annual credit report and help them resolve any inaccuracies.
27. Normalcy Provisions: Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard
Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard
• By September 29, 2015, states must implement what is known as a “reasonable
and prudent parent standard;”
• States must revise licensing rules to incorporate this new standard and also
provide training to foster parents on the new standard;
• States must also ensure child care institutions designate an on-site caregiver
who is trained in and authorized to use the reasonable and prudent parenting
standard;
• Beginning in 2020, $3 million will be available through states’ independent
living programs to support youth’s participation in age-appropriate activities.
28. What You Can Do to Help Implementation
• Help stakeholders and policymakers in your state understand the scope of the
requirements:
• What is required vs. what would make the most difference?
• How do they relate to other SFA provisions (reduction of APPLA, increased
youth involvement in case planning, etc.)
• Bring necessary stakeholders together to develop recommendations and an advocacy
strategy
• Make sure you and your organization are at the table during these discussions!
• Ask questions
• Engage youth at all levels of discussion, advocacy and implementation
29. Key Questions for Implementation
• Should a right to participate in age-appropriate activities be included in regulation
and/or statute?
• Much focus is on decision-making of caregivers
• Should policy make clear that the goal is improved youth outcomes and
experiences?
• What types of decisions will the standard cover?
• What factors should a caregiver consider in exercising the standard?
• Age, maturity, supporting development, safety, etc.
• How should special needs of specific populations be taken into account to ensure
full access to opportunities?
30. Key Questions for Implementation, continued
• How can we ensure full application of the standards to congregate care?
• What is the scope of the liability protection for caregivers and the child welfare agency?
• How will the standard be enforced and monitored?
• Court review
• Case planning
• Grievances
• How do we continue to build foster parent capacity, recruitment, and retention in light
of this standard?
31. • Increases investments in prevention and post-permanency services
• Promotes family-based care as an alternative to congregate care
• Allows states to use Chafee dollars through age 23
• Demonstration to address over-prescription of psychotropics
The Administration’s 2016 Budget Proposal
32. Senator Wyden: Prevention Services
• Allows title IV-E reimbursement for time-limited (up to 12 months) family services
when those services are needed to prevent entry into foster care or allow children to
safely exit foster care to family placements.
• Defines eligible population as children identified as “candidates” for foster care (at
imminent risk of entry into foster care) or who are in foster care, as well as to these
children’s family members.
• After a 3-year implementation phase, establishes national performance measure and
outcomes-based reimbursement rates to target federal dollars to cost-effective
services.
• Increases funding for community-based prevention and intervention services
through the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program
33. Senator Hatch: Congregate Care
• Proposal yet to be introduced
• July 2015 hearing: Hatch said that he would be introducing a bill to be marked up
this fall
• Past proposals have indicated strong interest in reducing congregate care
placements:
• Restrictions on congregate care placements for children 14 and younger
• Funding tied to outcomes
Here is an overview of what I’m going to cover today.
At the beginning of the 114th Congress, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor observed that 8,053,000 children will be born during the 114th Congress. It was a powerful reminder about the consequences of action or inaction by lawmakers.
Those consequences aren't just measured in news cycles dominated, elections won, and legislatures controlled. They're measured in children's lives.
There are an enormous range of issues before Congress with the potential to fundamentally impact America's children.
The data show that, unless Congress makes children a real priority, the consequences for the more than 8 million children who will be born during their tenure are alarming.
Data from the nonpartisan Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center paints a clear picture of the future for these 8 million children if Congress does not make children’s policies a real priority.
If Congress does nothing, more than 1.7 million will live in poverty — a disadvantage that research has shown to have lifelong consequences for academic performance, income, and even health.
Abuse, neglect
Uninsurance
More than 3.3 million will be the children of immigrants, many of whom will go to sleep each night in fear that the government will take their parents away before the next morning.
And more than 4.4 million won't be enrolled in preschool, even though decades of research show that quality pre-kindergarten can level the playing field and give children in low-income families a chance to reach their full potential.
While we’re going to focus today on child welfare, I thought it might be helpful to provide an overview of the federal budgetary picture with regard to children. Megan and I both love numbers and data – I assume that because you all chose a policy discussion to attend today that you do too – so hopefully this will help ground our conversation before we get into the specifics about what legislative solutions Congress has come up with.
There has also been a Decline in flexible Federal funds for child and family services, including prevention.