Strengthening Family Economic Security and Improving Child Welfare Outcomes
More than one in five New York children live in poverty, a greater percentage than in 32 other states. And those numbers are substantially higher for children of color. There is abundant evidence that poverty causes children and families to experience not only material deprivation, but also toxic stress and numerous other negative outcomes, which can sometimes trigger – or be mistaken for – child maltreatment or neglect. Given the overwhelming evidence of connections between poverty and maltreatment (whether real or perceived), a focus of child welfare interventions should be connecting the family with comprehensive and ongoing economic supports. Too often, this is not the case.
The Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy recently released a new white paper, Improving New York Child Welfare Outcomes by Strengthening Family Economic Security. As child poverty rates in New York remain high, Schuyler Center’s report highlights intersections between poverty and child welfare and the need for our state’s systems and services to more comprehensively address the needs of families.
To ensure families have the resources they need to provide for their children, the State should invest in family economic security in addition to other family supports. Our paper includes a series of recommendations related to strengthening family economic security and preventing child abuse and neglect.
Read the full paper here.
Kate Breslin
President and CEO
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