National partnership to reinvent child welfare expands to additional states; Now in 22 locales including the White Earth Nation
Thriving Families, Safer Children: A National Commitment to Well-Being aims to move from traditional, reactive child protection systems to those designed to support child and family well-being and prevent child maltreatment and unnecessary family separations
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News Release
Administration for Children & Families Health and Human Services
Casey Family Programs
Prevent Child Abuse America
Thriving Families, Safer Children: A National Commitment to Well-Being a first-of-its-kind effort of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Prevent Child Abuse America® has expanded its reach to include child welfare jurisdictions in 22 states that stretch from coast to coast and a sovereign tribal nation. In announcing the addition of sites in 16 states, the District of Columbia and White Earth Nation,
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, which focuses on the stories of vulnerable communities. The first story explored how COVID-19 has affected young adults aging out of the foster care system; the second focused on grandparents raising kin; and the third was on how the pandemic impacted parents and reunification efforts.
The pandemic, its associated isolation, and economic challenges prompted child welfare to sound the alarm: COVID-19 will likely result in a spike in child abuse.
But whether such a trend is certain fact or educated intuition is still open to question. Complete data won t be available until mid-2021, at the earliest.
Some experts fear that at-risk children won t be seen because stay-at-home orders are keeping them away from the watchful gaze of mandated reporters, especially teachers, who report one in five cases of suspected abuse and neglect to hotlines and responsible agencies.