JooYeun Chang’s Post

Important facts about child welfare pitfalls: 1. The child welfare system in the United States fails to meet all children's needs due to overwhelming demand, despite government spending of US$33 billion in 2018. Abuse and neglect investigations, foster care, and other child welfare activities can harm children and their families. Communities of color are particularly susceptible, with 37% of all children, including 53% of African American children, experiencing a child protective services investigation by the time they turn 18. More progress requires a robust safety net and a constructive approach to supporting parents of children experiencing neglect or abuse. 2. Some child welfare policies inadvertently make life harder for parents and children. For example, authorities sometimes place children in foster care and bill parents for its cost, obstructing family reunification. State systems have also taken Social Security survivors benefits from children in foster care to finance the child welfare system's operations. Deeply engaged parents have reported being essentially forced to surrender custody to the state so their child could receive mental health care services they couldn't afford. 3. Child neglect, which accounts for 76% of child victims, is more prevalent than physical or sexual abuse. Neglect often directly reflects poverty, where parents struggle to maintain a home, buy food, or pay for essential utilities. Chronic poverty exacerbates other parental risk factors, such as mental health conditions, substance use, domestic violence, and criminal justice involvement, all of which contribute to maltreatment of children in complex ways. 4. Black children make up just 13% of the US child population but represent 24% of child abuse or neglect reports and 21% of children entering the foster system. These pitfalls highlight the need for systemic reforms and a more compassionate approach to child welfare, focusing on supporting families rather than punitive measures. ¹Child Welfare Information Gateway, ²US Department of Health and Human Services, #childwelfare #systemreforms #supportfamilies #compassion #

Social workers play a key role in the child welfare system, conducting assessments to ensure child safety and well-being, facilitating family reunification, adoption, or other permanency plans, providing trauma treatment, and more. Last week, students in Dr. Faye Zakheim’s Social Work Practice I class learned what it’s really like to work in child welfare directly from five leaders of the NYC Administration for Children's Services. Associate Commissioner Rodney Jackson, LCSW, Program Development Assistant Commissioner Roslyn Norrell-Fleming, Program Development Executive Director Olga Laboriel, Program Development Deputy Director Nicole McKnight and Program Development Manager Melane Harris gave an inside account of the agency’s work. They also said the agency has made significant progress in recent years, including reducing the number of children in foster care, increasing the rate of placements with family and friends, and expanding support for children, parents and caregivers. “They are incredible presenters,” said Dr. Zakheim. “They inspired students who hadn't thought about it to consider careers in child welfare.”

Today, JooYeun Chang, program director for child well-being at DDF, testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, to provide comments on the critical role of the Family First Prevention Services Act in child welfare. Cases of abuse or neglect that result in serious and immediate harm to children necessitate child protection intervention. However, instances of neglect and issues related to child well-being are frequently associated with poverty, along with other risk factors such as mental health. Addressing these challenges calls for a voluntary approach that is centered on meeting the needs and leveraging the strengths of families and the community. Read and watch the testimony here: https://lnkd.in/eQ7N-dta

The US President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris is making child welfare a key political priority in the last 6 months of their administration. Their statement sets out actions their administration will take in order to keep children in their families. Lots to inspire the new UK Labour Government. Their focus: 1. Children should not be separated from their families due to financial hardship alone. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is Issuing new policy guidance that encourages states to update their maltreatment definitions under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to exclude the inability to provide adequate housing, child care and other material needs if the family has insufficient financial means to do so from the definition of child neglect. The state should first seek to help the family. 2. Prevention services - New Biden-Harris actions will expand how states and Tribes can use federal funding for prevention activities to provide greater assistance to children and families before a crisis point. 3. Prioritising Kinship care "Children who cannot be with their parents but live with relatives and other kin have better outcomes than those who are not, including in stability, behavioral health, and education. New Biden-Harris actions will incentivize jurisdictions to do more to ensure children can live with kin, and meet youth needs." #childwelfare #US #kinshipcare

When does our focus on risk put families at risk? Do we have clear enough definitions of safety and risk and sound enough protocols for assessing and predicting future risk? My friend Valerie Frost is part of the team at Kentucky Youth Advocates that publishes this regular blog. She shared yesterday's post with me, which was written by Jeanna who is a member of KY SEAT. KY SEAT is a statewide council of birth parents advocating for and empowering others who have past experience with the child welfare system. The blog asks some important questions about the unseen impact of reports and investigations. It also reminds us that the impact of CPS extends beyond what we can see when children are removed. The article also lays out some recommendations. 1. Due process for parents 2. More family support 3. Initiating clearer standards 4. Better training for investigative workers To learn more about KY SEAT and to read the latest blog you can check out the link below. It's a big question but how do you weigh the risk of child safety against the risk of harmful intervention? #family #parentsfirst #familyintegrity #cps #childwelfare #listening #curiosity #humility #transformation https://lnkd.in/e4iFrsHZ

Children are often removed from families too readily due to incentives within the child welfare system, such as those under the Adoption and Safe Families Act that prioritize increasing adoptions each year. This emphasis on adoption over family reunification can cause trauma and is a major factor contributing to homelessness by disrupting stable family environments. There's a notable disparity in resources, with more funding often allocated to adoption services rather than efforts to support family reunification. To address these issues, reforms are needed to rebalance priorities within child welfare: Enhanced Support for Families: Increase funding and resources for preventative services and family support programs, including mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, and parenting education. Reform Incentive Structures: Modify federal and state funding incentives to promote family preservation and reunification efforts alongside adoption, ensuring decisions prioritize the best interests of children and their families. Training and Support for Social Workers: Provide ongoing training and support for social workers to improve decision-making processes, reduce bias, and prioritize family stability. Community and Kinship Support: Strengthen community-based support networks and kinship care options to maintain family connections and stability whenever possible. By implementing these reforms, we can work towards a child welfare system that effectively supports families in crisis, reduces unnecessary family separations, and mitigates the risk factors that contribute to homelessness.

The Child Welfare Community Collaborations (CWCC) initiative is designed to mobilize communities to develop and evaluate multi-system collaboratives that address local barriers and provide a continuum of services to prevent child abuse and neglect. These profiles from our research partners Abt Global and Child Trends describe each of the nine Cohort 2 grantees: Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ Hello Baby project in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Family Resource Center of North Mississippi’s Comprehensive Community Collaboration Demonstration Model to Strengthen and Preserve High Risk Families (CCCDM) project in Tupelo, Mississippi (Lee County). Larimer County Department of Human Services’ Supported Families, Stronger Community project in Larimer County, Colorado. Ohio Children's Trust Fund's (OCTF) Family Success Network (FSN) project in three Northeastern Ohio counties: Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull. Partnership for Strong Families, Inc.’s Resource Center Model: Evaluation, Refinement, and Expansion project in North Central Florida. Trustees of Indiana University's Strengthening Indiana Families project in Tipton, Grant, Madison, and Delaware Counties, Indiana. Vision for Children at Risk’s Parents and Children Together St. Louis (PACT-STL) project in St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri. Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families’ Strengthen Families Locally (SFL) project in four locales in Washington: Port Angeles/Sequim, Bremerton, Ferry/Stevens counties, and Spokane. YMCA of San Diego County’s Partners in Prevention (PiP) project in San Diego County, California. #ChildWelfare https://lnkd.in/epSNv_8P

CAFO President Jedd Medefind and Jeremy Kohomban, President and CEO of The Children’s Village, co-authored an article in this week's Imprint on a groundbreaking Harris Poll commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center showing a rare glimpse of American unity on issues of child welfare. "Polarization has become entrenched in American politics and policy, and the realm of child welfare is not immune to that. The intrusive nature of the work and the presence of persistent racial and class disproportionality have fractured the field into tribes, with some even calling for the abolition of the system entirely. Not so for the American people. Groundbreaking new polling on child welfare reveals a sturdy consensus that crosses many typical political fault lines. Americans remain deeply committed to vulnerable children and families and desire to see our systems hold a strong balance between child safety and family integrity..." Read the full article at The Imprint here: https://lnkd.in/gU-Kkp-q

Our child welfare system is built on an outdated financing model that reflects a bygone era. Decades ago, when the system was designed, there were few resources available to support families in crisis. Removal became the primary intervention, driven by the “battered child syndrome” mindset. But now, we know better. We understand the trauma of family separation, and we have a range of resources that could help families thrive together. The problem? The funding hasn’t kept up. Federal dollars are still disproportionately directed toward placing children in foster care, while only a fraction supports keeping families safely together. Many foster care agencies are reimbursed based on the number of children they have "in care," with these funds often covering social workers’ salaries and operational costs. When the financial model rewards separation over prevention, where is the incentive to keep children in their homes? This outdated system perpetuates a cycle where family separation becomes the default response rather than a last resort. The reality today is that the majority of removals—83%, in fact—are for neglect, often tied to poverty, mental health, substance use, or racial bias. These are challenges for which we now have resources to address, yet the funding remains tied to outdated approaches that prioritize removal over support. Imagine if we reallocated more of these funds to support housing stability, parenting programs, and mental health services—shifting from a system of reaction to one of prevention. This is our vision for co-designing UnSystems: systems that invest in families from the start, providing the resources they need to thrive together. We need a model that truly works for children and families—not one that is funded when families are separated. It’s time to challenge this outdated system and build a new way forward. PS - This post is part of my ongoing series on the flawed foundation of the U.S. child welfare system. Please join me in the conversation below, and share your thoughts on how we can create a system that invests in families before crisis. Follow for more! #ChildWelfareReform #PreventiveCare #FamilySupport #UnSystem #FundingReform

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a perfect time to focus on ways to safely keep children with their families and out of foster care. This new brief focuses on how three child welfare jurisdictions have used flexible funds to support families and prevent family separation. https://bit.ly/3VFJTLE #ChildAbusePreventionMonth #CAPM #ChildWelfare