families

Community-led decision-making is key to real transformation of neighborhood conditions and support for families.

To better reach families, we should have our own version of The Three Graces: opportunity, competence and empathy. 

When combined, government and community efforts to support the complex economic and health needs of families are stronger.

Paul DiLorenzo describes three conversations that child welfare leaders in every state should be having as 2022 begins.

By Megan Conn

By BJ Walker Every morning when you wake up as a child welfare director, you are scared for somebody else’s children, and not just because you worry about abuse and neglect.

Today in California, there are an estimated 210,000 children younger than 6 hiding in plain sight because they weren’t counted in the last U.S. Census. As a result, communities in our state missed out on a decade’s worth of crucial funding for programs to support them — programs that provide basic necessities like food, shelter and health care.

There has been an important shift in the conversation around child abuse and neglect fatalities in recent years. Previously, our systems were designed to respond only after a tragedy occurred. Today, however, with the support of new public policy and greater knowledge, we are beginning to think and act in terms of preventing child abuse tragedies before they occur.

In recent years, New York City’s child welfare leadership has proudly told the story of how the system has dramatically reduced the number of children in foster care while maintaining child safety.