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A new report from Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now, a
project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, highlights the lack of federal
funds allocated toward child abuse and neglect prevention services.
The report, entitled “Time for Reform: Investing in Prevention, Keeping
Children Safe at Home,” notes that only 10 percent of federal funds
earmarked for child welfare services are available for prevention and
family reunification services. The report cites the effects of a number
of promising family preservation programs in support of its argument
that increasing the amount spent on prevention and reunification
services results in a decreased incidence of abuse and neglect, better
outcomes for children, and lower costs of care per child. |
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The report also recommends specific policy options such as:
- Ensuring a sufficient source of flexible federal funds to support
the full continuum of child welfare services by at-risk children and
families.
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Permitting states to reinvest money saved from safely reducing the
number of children in foster care in other child welfare services.
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And making all children who have been removed from their families
due to abuse and neglect eligible for federal foster care support.
For more information, check out Kids Are Waiting.Org
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