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Abstract With government's response to child abuse and neglect seen as one of the most daunting challenges for public policy and law, legislative reform on this issue struggles to adequately protect children while preserving the integrity of family. The authors utilize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act ( CAPTA) as an example of the funding and policy challenges in reforming federal child welfare law, as well as a lens through which advocates can locate both conventional and unconventional tools to move forward. CAPTA is examined as an important but weak and flawed federal statute. Authors present an array of opportunities to improve CAPTA during the next reauthorization cycle. Noting exemplary successes, in other recent and related legislation reforms, are suggested for CAPTA to more effectively address ongoing challenges of child welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy, vulnerability and identification play an important role in the wish to protect children who are perceived to be helpless, blameless and therefore the ideal victim. This article offers an empirically based discussion of responses to humanitarian communications depicting children. Although most participants recognized that a communication involving a child has immediate impact, overall they displayed a reflexive and critical awareness of their own propensity to automatically empathize in response, with many expressing irritation for being manipulated. The study suggests that focusing exclusively on a de-contextualized and dyadic ‘audience-victim’ relationship offers only partial insight into audiences’ responses and reactions. Instead, it is argued that the usefulness of the use of children in humanitarian communication can be properly gauged only in the context of media saturation, audiences being sophisticated and media-savvy about appeals and communications, and a general attitude of distrust and dissatisfaction with the marketization of NGOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the analysis of the impact of Kenya’s Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme on the household decisions on productive activities using data from a randomised experimental design. Results show that the programme had a positive and significant impact on food consumption coming from home production, accumulation of productive assets, especially on the ownership of small livestock, and on formation of nonfarm enterprise, especially for females. The programme has provided more flexibility to families in terms of labour allocation decisions, particularly for those who are geographically isolated. The programme was also found to reduce child labour, an important objective of the programme. However, we find very little impact of the programme on direct indicators of crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Early child care and education programs have the potential to play a supportive role in the lives of vulnerable children and families involved in the child welfare system. Child care subsidies can help low-income families to access these programs. The current study examines the use and stability of child care subsidies among children from families involved in the child welfare system. Administrative data were obtained from the Oregon Department of Human Services through two linked datasets: Child Welfare Services and Employment Related Day Care (Oregon''s child care subsidy program). Results indicate that children placed out of their biological homes through child welfare services, and those with more instability in child welfare placements, are less likely to receive subsidized child care than those protected in their homes. Findings further suggest that children involved in child welfare services have even less stability in child care subsidy use than other children from low-income families, evidenced by shorter durations of subsidy use. These findings provide a platform for future research in this area, and have implications for the well-being of children and families involved in child welfare services, whose lives involve a host of challenges, risks, and instabilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on issues regarding child welfare financing system in the U.S. It mentions that the insufficient funding for preventive and reunification programs, and the possibility that Title IV-E of the Social Security Act may not be utilized for children in foster care are the criticisms thrown over the issue. Critics suggest to replace block grants with a capped allocation for funding. However, the authors argue that the substitution of block grants might reduce the programs' funding.

In decisions to adopt and implement new practices or innovations in child welfare, costs are often a bottom-line consideration. The cost calculator, a method developed in England that can be used to calculate unit costs of core case work activities and associated administrative costs, is described as a potentially helpful tool for assisting child welfare administrators to evaluate the costs of current practices relative to their outcomes and could impact decisions about whether to implement new practices. The process by which the cost calculator is being adapted for use in US child welfare systems in two states is described and an illustration of using the method to compare two intervention approaches is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses welfare family caps in the U.S. The history of welfare and welfare reform in the U.S., as well as the history of welfare family caps are explored. It examines the maximum family grant (MFG) rule, CalWORKs' family cap, and the zero-grant situation, in which families' monthly welfare grants have no value due to a family cap, even though their capped children technically are welfare participants. Other topics analyzed are the use of family caps on public policy grounds and the legal challenges to family caps.

As the media portrays England's child protection system as being in dire straits, Ruth Gardner and Marian Brandon state the case for concentrating resources on improving the amount and quality of contact that professionals have with children and their parents [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Children's Fund involved the development of partnerships in every local authority in England to prevent the social exclusion of children and young people. This article draws from the national evaluation of this initiative to consider the strategies used to implement the Fund, and reflect on their capacity to address the multiple dimensions of exclusion experienced by marginalised groups of children and young people. It discusses the contested nature of the concept of social exclusion, but argues that this is a useful framework for understanding the processes by which children may become excluded and for assessing the capacity of strategies to address this. It concludes that the Children's Fund is likely to have limited long-term impact in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how ‘child budgeting’ is used as a strategy to influence government towards better welfare policies for children in India. Though children constitute more than one-third of the population, the budgetary expenditure for this age-group is comparatively very low. The article describes the situation of children in India, and the method of child budgeting being practised by advocacy institutions in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few empirical facts exist regarding the actual costs of child abuse in the United States. Consistent data is not available for national or even statewide analysis. Clearly there is a need for such accounting in order to fully understand the damage created by child abuse and neglect. Policy makers and social welfare planners should take child abuse costs into consideration when determining expenditures for prevention and intervention programs. The real savings may far outweigh the costs of such programs when both direct and indirect costs of child abuse and neglect enter into the analysis. This paper offers a model in which the actual costs of child abuse and neglect, based on direct, indirect, and opportunity costs associated with each case. Direct costs are those associated with the treatment of abused and neglected children as well as the costs of family intervention programs or foster care. Indirect costs are costs to society created by the negative effects of child abuse and neglect evinced by individuals who suffer such abuse and then as teens or adults engage in criminal behavior. Indirect costs also derive from the long term and ongoing health care needs required by victims of abuse, for both physical and mental health disorders. With the existence of this model, the author hopes to stimulate the discussion and desire for better data collection and analysis. In order to demonstrate the utility of the model, the author has included some cost estimates from the Connecticut State Department of Children and Families and the works of other scholars looking into the question of costs for child abuse and neglect. This data represents the best available at this time. As a result, the model appearing here is specific to Connecticut. Even so, once more valid data becomes available, the model's structure and theoretical framework should adapt to the needs of other states to facilitate better measurement of relevant costs and provide a clearer picture of the utility of investment in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use data from a new longitudinal survey - the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study - to examine how welfare and child support policies, and local labor market conditions, affect union formation among unmarried parents who have just had a child together. We use multinomial logistic regression to estimate the effects of the policy variables along with economic, cultural/interpersonal, and other factors on whether (relative to being in a cohabiting relationship) parents are not romantically involved, romantically involved living apart, or married to each other about one year after the child's birth. We find that contrary to some previous research higher welfare benefits discourage couples from breaking up, while strong child support enforcement reduces the chances that unmarried parents will marry; local unemployment rates do not appear to be strongly associated with union formation decisions after a nonmarital birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the economics of child maltreatment. The most recent National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect found that children from families with incomes below 15,000 dollars per year or roughly the poverty level for family of four were 22 times more likely to experience observable harm from child maltreatment than children from families with annual incomes above 30,000 dollars. Truth be told, no meaningful estimates are available regarding the overall costs of child maltreatment. For example, the American Humane Association in 1994 estimated that the costs of providing a broad range of services to maltreated children and their families was approximately 11.4 billion dollars in 1993. The federal government's role in providing child welfare services dates to the enactment of the Social Security Act 1935, whereby the Children's Bureau was given funding under the Title IV-B Child Welfare Services program to provide through the states an array of services to children and their families. Trends in federal funding for child protection show the discrepancy in spending between out-of-home care expenditures on the one hand and all other services for maltreated children and their families on the other. Although foster care spending has grown faster than the foster care caseload, funding for child protective services investigations and services to families and children has not kept pace with demand.

Provides information on a study which used benefit-cost analysis to structure evaluations of child abuse prevention and intervention programs. Fundamental aspects of benefit-cost analysis; Benefits of using a benefit-cost analysis in program evaluation; Limitations of using benefit-cost analysis; Importance of evaluating costs in child welfare service programs; Application of benefit-cost analysis to the prevention and remedy of financial problems in child welfare programs.

Most of the research and policy debate related to PL 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, has centered on the time limits, family caps, work requirements, and sanctions imposed on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients and states. While those parts of the bill are critical, this article argues that child support enforcement, which is usually only a footnote in the dialogue, is an integral component of welfare reform and the element that will contribute significantly to raising thousands of women and children out of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Michigan Children's Trust Fund and its associated consulting community psychologists undertook a survey of national Trust and Prevention Funds regarding income tax checkoffs as a means of funding child abuse prevention programs. Over the decade examined, there were significant patterns of decline in the percentage of taxpayers donating and increase in the average individual donation. The annual percentage donating, average individual donation, and total donations each correlated significantly with both tax-return variables and economic indicators. Regressions indicated the number of years the checkoff was present on the tax form also was predictive of declines in donations. We concluded tax checkoffs have limited utility as monies for child abuse prevention and recommended diversifying funding sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the key income and time deficits facing Canadian families, describes briefly the current policy responses to these problems, and puts forward several proposals to help reduce these deficits and to move toward increased investment in the welfare of Canadian children. To reduce the income and time deficits the federal government can take some actions including the reindexation of child benefits and an increase in payments for poor households. Both changes would require increasing the child benefits budget. The time deficit can be reduced by work arrangements that respond to family needs, the extension of maternity and parental leave, and affordable child care.

The article offers information on various grants aimed at promoting child welfare in the U.S. Grants awarded by the Heller Charitable Foundation supports environmental and arts education opportunities to children and youth. The objective of the Brady Education foundation is to close the achievement gap for children at risk for poor school outcomes caused by poverty. The focus of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is on youth education.

Childhood maltreatment captured medical attention almost 50 years ago. Reviews considering the evidence for published maltreatment prevention programming emerged about 20 years ago. In the second decade of the 21st century, evidence-based maltreatment prevention is a reality for at-risk groups; however, the research-to-practice and policy gap remains in most countries. This article considers the importance of personal financial health and how that is necessarily the building blocks of national health. It argues for the primacy of the goal of problem prevention—the prevention of childhood maltreatment. A twofold approach is suggested: (1) broad-scale adoption of evidence-based prevention and (2) and on-going commitment to refining the evidence base for effective, promising, and novel intervention. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article comments on the needs of community child health practice in Australia. The claim that training in community child health lacks quality control is not supported by evidence. Also, there is no evidence supporting the claims that research funding in community child health is comparatively poor. Instead, the existing structure is well-placed to respond to the emergence of high prevalence conditions.