Tim Heavin’s Post

Having worked in the child welfare system for several years, I've witnessed various interventions aimed at reforming the system. While many of these efforts are well-intentioned, they often end up being reactionary and, at times, dehumanizing. Recent statistics reveal that over 60% of child welfare cases involve poverty-related issues rather than direct abuse or neglect.  This data underscores a critical need for us to rethink our approach. To effect positive change in an anti-oppressive manner, we must focus on proactive measures that distinguish poverty from neglect. It's essential to provide support systems that address the root causes of poverty, rather than penalizing families for their socioeconomic status. By shifting our perspective and actions from reactive to proactive, we can create a more just and supportive environment for children and families. Let's work towards a child welfare system that uplifts rather than oppresses. #ChildWelfare #ProactiveSupport #AntiOppressive #PovertyVsNeglect #SystemReform https://lnkd.in/eqeMKuXA

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

Recent research from Chapin Hall highlights innovative approaches states are taking with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support family stability and prevent child welfare involvement. Among the programs their research highlights: * California's Linkages 2.0 program, coordinating TANF and child welfare services to strengthen families * Kentucky's use of TANF for flexible funds to provide concrete supports to at-risk families * New York's direct cash transfer pilot for parents at risk of child welfare involvement * Wisconsin's Targeted Safety Support Funds, offering concrete supports to families with children at risk of removal These approaches demonstrate the potential of TANF to provide timely, flexible assistance to families in crisis, aligning with its first statutory goal: enabling children to be cared for in their own homes or with relatives. At Footbridge, we applaud these efforts to use public funds creatively and effectively to keep families together. By providing concrete support during temporary financial crises, we can prevent the need for more invasive interventions and promote long-term family stability. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eHn5QMBR

This past Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the Protecting America's Children by Strengthening Families Act with overwhelming support (405-10)!    This is a groundbreaking bipartisan bill that brings long-awaited reforms and investments to our child welfare system. The bill explicitly calls for people with lived experience to have a key role in shaping child welfare. As Alia continues to design new ways of preventing foster care alongside impacted parents, we co-sign the importance of building new ways forward alongside those most impacted. The bill also increases funding (by $75 million/year), provides direct cash support (to prevent family separation due to poverty), expands support for kin caregivers, simplifies processes for Tribes (a HUGE win!), and strengthens courts & child welfare workforce.   These changes bring us closer to a system that supports and empowers families, rather than tearing them apart. We are not there yet, but every step we take in the right direction is a reminder of the incredible momentum our movement has across the nation. We are making progress each and every day.   Now, it’s time for the Senate to act swiftly so we can get these reforms implemented! 💪    #ChildWelfareReform #FamiliesFirst #ProtectKids #LivedExperienceMatters https://lnkd.in/giQ6teH7

Today, I had the honor of testifying to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance to provide comments on the critical role of the Family First Prevention Services Act in child welfare. We offered our considerations: 1)    Clarify who is eligible for Family First interventions to include children and families who are at risk of child welfare involvement and ensure that services are delivered, and efficacy measured in a way that is humane and promotes program utilization.   2)    Expand the scope of eligible prevention services to include services and support to address interpersonal violence, system navigation and care coordination, and material and concrete support for families.  Abuse or neglect that causes children serious and immediate harm requires child protection intervention. But often neglect cases and child well-being concerns are tied to poverty, in combination with other risk factors, including mental health. This requires a voluntary response, based on family needs and strengths, and of the community.

The Biden-Harris administration has announced a series of new policies aimed at preventing family separation and creating opportunities for families and youth. The new policies include clarifying that children should not be separated from their families solely due to financial hardship, and encouraging states to update their definitions of maltreatment to exclude situations where families are unable to provide adequate housing, childcare, and other material needs due to financial constraints. The administration also plans to expand how states and tribes can use federal funding for prevention activities, including offering more flexibility to tribal governments to use accepted prevention services in collaboration with state child welfare agencies. The policies also prioritize the needs of children and youth, including allowing child welfare agencies to use federal funds for background checks to expedite the licensing process for kin caregivers, and creating a new website to spotlight states and tribes that have adopted kinship licensing rules. The administration has a strong track record on child welfare, with several initiatives in place to prevent homelessness among youth aging out of foster care and to build family resilience. The new policies aim to ensure that every child can reach their full potential and grow up in a safe and loving home with their families. What are your thoughts on these new policies? Do you believe they will be effective in preventing family separation and creating opportunities for families and youth?

I understand this is a big undertaking... "however, child deaths are a profound tragedy." Yes this is true. The bill that the honourable Minister references however does not address; 1. whether service providers are receiving adequate funding and support to actually meet their responsibilities. More oversight and penalties will not, in and of themselves, improve service capacity or quality. 2.provisions to address a foster home shortage, such as new recruitment strategies, financial incentives for foster parents, or investments in foster home capacity-building. Without solving this issue, the child welfare system will continue to be overwhelmed. 3. The bill could be stronger if it mandated service delivery timelines, ensured that service providers are appropriately resourced, and prioritized funding for high-demand services. Long waitlists diminish the potential impact of oversight measures because families are still waiting for critical support. 4.There should be provisions for holistic, child-centered care, including ensuring that each child has access to tailored mental health services and that foster families or kin caregivers are trained and supported in trauma-informed care approaches. Without tackling issues like waitlists for services, foster home shortages, and the complex needs of children in care, the bill's effectiveness will be limited. Children and families require timely access to quality services just as much as they need a system that ensures those services are compliant with regulations. The legislation would benefit from provisions that reduce wait times, increase foster home availability, and improve the resources available to service providers. #dontlookawayOntario

Exciting news from yesterday's #WhiteHouse summit on Transforming Child Welfare! New policies were announced to prevent family separation due to poverty, which will greatly impact child welfare agencies nationwide. Children should not be separated from their families due to financial hardship alone. Several states, including #Kentucky, #Indiana, #SouthCarolina, #Wisconsin, #Pennsylvania, W#ashington, and #Kansas, have already clarified that poverty alone should not cause child removal. There is emerging evidence linking these actions to improved family outcomes. The Biden-Harris Administration is encouraging all states to follow their lead and clearly distinguish between child maltreatment and financial hardship. Delighted to see these positive changes that will help keep children and families safely together. Read more about these updates in the new White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Keep Children and Families Safely Together and Supported: #childwelfare #familysupport #transformingwelfare #childwellbeing #publicpolicy

Let’s continue exploring the flawed foundation of America’s child welfare system. A system that is not broken, but instead, does exactly what it was designed to do. When someone in our life is struggling, our first instinct is to offer our help and support, right? So, was the system designed to offer support to families facing difficult circumstances? No, it was not. It was designed to "rescue" children from “bad” parents and punish parents. Child welfare in the U.S. was designed to operate more like a penal system than a support system. This is why approximately 83% of children are removed from their homes for neglect—often tied to poverty, mental health, substance use, or racial biases—rather than physical or sexual abuse. This design couldn't be more opposed to what families need; instead, it's sometimes like pouring gas on the fire of a burning house. When families are struggling most--we do the worst thing possible--tear them apart. And more importantly, as we like to say at Alia, it is not what love would do. We built a child welfare system that punishes families for conditions tied to poverty, mental health challenges, substance use, and racial biases—issues that demand support, not separation. We built a punitive system when we needed a support system. Of course, we’re not talking about situations that are life-threatening, involve sexual abuse, or other types of significant harm to children; sometimes, children are in need of protection, but that never comes without additional harm. Again, 4 in 5 removals are for reasons other than abuse! Yet instead of providing resources to address the underlying issues, the system is designed to remove children causing lifelong harm and leaving families fractured. We must ask ourselves: Are we really helping? If so, who are we helping? This is a nearly 32 billion dollar industry; ask yourself, “Who benefits?” Why wouldn't we design a system that intervenes before families reach the point of crisis? Why not build a system that provides supports and services to address the causes of neglect rather than relying on removal as its cruel tool of choice, knowing it causes life-long predictive harm? It’s time we stopped using separation as a tool for family "protection" and started investing in what families need to stay together. What steps do you think we can take to support families before separation happens? PS - I’m currently sharing a series of posts on the flawed foundation of the US child welfare system—which is far from comprehensive but offers starting places for important conversations. Please join the conversation by sharing your insights below. Share and follow for more! #FamilySupport #ChildWelfareReform #UnSystem 

Ms. Campbell asserts "Families with low incomes and Black families are disproportionately funneled into the child welfare system. This disparity is primarily due to existing policies that equate poverty with neglect, mandatory reporting requirements, and bias in reporting and investigating. This Note argues that medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) can counteract these trends and support children and families. Part II highlights the urgency of this issue, providing an overview of the significant short- and long-term harms of a child coming into contact with the child welfare system and of being removed from their family. Part III explains how poverty acts as a driver of child welfare involvement through increased exposure of families with low incomes to mandatory reporters and the conflation of poverty with neglect. Part IV highlights how health care providers currently act as sites of family surveillance and separation due largely to mandatory reporting requirements, funneling Black families and families with low incomes into the child welfare system, and undermining families' relationships with health care providers. Part IV also highlights the ways in which MLPs promote families' financial stability through legal support for individual clients and advocacy for systemic change to increase access to income, benefits, and stable housing. Part V explains the ways in which MLPs reduce barriers to civil legal services that disproportionately keep families with low incomes, and especially Black families with low incomes, from needed legal assistance. Finally, Part VI offers policy recommendations to expand MLPs and reform mandatory reporting requirements so that MLPs can help shift health care providers from sites of surveillance to sites of support for families."