A Framework for Child Welfare Reform

1 A Framework for Child Welfare Reform January Strategic Priorities for Maine: A Call to Action 2022. Issue Maine's Child protective services are being overwhelmed by maltreatment reports. The state is reckoning with an unprecedented number of tragedies in a short time. Many Priority Actions efforts are focused on improvements to the Child protective The State should assume authority and agency, but this is only part of the picture. The current crisis for responsibility for leading the Maine's children and families cannot be the responsibility of the development, implementation, and state Child Welfare agency alone. oversight of a comprehensive statewide prevention plan From June through August 2021, four Maine children died in cases where parents have been charged with abuse or neglect.

2 The State and Philanthropy should invest As of November 2021, there were 2,282 children in state in building the infrastructure for cross- custody, a 25% increase from July These children lack the system collaboration between public safety and stability of a permanent home and family. Improving systems and community service providers the state Child Welfare system will require sustained focus and investments. However, focusing attention and resources only on The Legislature and State should work improving the state agency will not reduce the number of together to build state Child Welfare children entering the system. leadership and caseworker capacity There is currently no coordinated system for preventing Child Community Leaders, Philanthropy, and maltreatment in Maine.

3 Reports assessing the state Child Welfare the State should work together to invest agency, including the most recent one conducted by Casey in community-based supports for families Family Programs and Collaborative Safety LLC, have all identified the need to improve collaboration with community providers The Legislature and the Child Welfare that serve the same families. The pandemic has increased the Ombudsman's office should provide need for concrete and economic supports for families. ongoing oversight of Child Welfare system improvement recommendations, plans, All stakeholders need to work together to find ways to stabilize and implementation families in our communities and reduce the number of children who experience maltreatment.

4 This will require immediate, coordinated investments and actions by public and private partners in communities across the Our nation's Child Welfare system only responds to maltreatment after it occurs, rather than supporting families to safely care for their children. When intervention occurs, it disproportionately involves families living in deep poverty and communities of color. This has long-term implications for youth mental health, connection to education, and other systems involvement. Real Reform can occur only if Maine moves away from our reliance on the Child protection system and moves toward a Framework of Child well-being and healthy families.

5 Available Evidence Promising National Strategies Spending March Thriving Families, Safer Children: A 2021. Historically, state and federal spending has been primarily National Commitment to Well-Being directed toward the downstream, in Child protection The Children's Bureau at HHS' intervention and foster care. Administration for Children and Families, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse America are partnering in a nationwide initiative to prove that it is possible to fundamentally rethink how Child Welfare systems function to prioritize strengthening families and building resiliency, rather than *State spending in Child Welfare , 41 states ( Child Trends, 2018).

6 Separating families. National Child Welfare leaders are calling for changes to the Essentials for Childhood (CDC) ways we invest in Child Welfare spending. In recent years, the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Essentials for Childhood proposes strategies Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Casey Family communities can consider to promote the Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Prevent Child types of relationships and environments Abuse America, and other organizations have recommended that help children grow up to be healthy states direct more resources and attention to primary and and productive citizens so that they, in turn, secondary prevention efforts that reduce the incidence of can build stronger and safer families and Child abuse and neglect.

7 Communities for their children. These leaders are emphasizing the importance of The Institute for Family proactively preventing Child maltreatment and investing in the capacity of parents to keep their children safe, rather The Institute for Family exists to elevate than disproportionately investing in supports and services , and accelerate the family well-being such as foster care, after children have already suffered movement. We believe this starts with maltreatment. 3. listening to families, trusting their lived expertise, and working with them to inform The public funding stream will take time to shift. and inspire a new way forward.

8 Communities and philanthropy should focus investments on prevention efforts to meet the need right now. Tennyson Center for Children Rewiring Rewiring strategically deploys public and Disparities private funds to ultimately yield a system Children who are two or more races or Native American are that prevents children and families from more likely to be in foster care in Maine. Research has shown having to get worse before becoming several possible causes for racial disparities in the foster care eligible to receive the help they need. system: disproportionate and varying needs of children and Shifting dollars from high-cost, late-stage families of color, especially due to higher rates of poverty.

9 Interventions to lower-cost, preventative racial bias and discrimination; Child Welfare system factors;. support will save money and will improve and geographic outcomes for kids, families, and society. Investments should also focus on addressing the root causes of disparities for families with Child Welfare involvement. Page | 2. Challenges March Prevention 2021. There is currently no coordinated system for preventing Child maltreatment in Maine. Responsibilities for strategic planning and prevention activities are spread across several state and community entities. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act5 funds Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) programs in every state, with the purpose of reducing the likelihood of Child abuse and State agencies are the CBCAP lead agency in 44 states.

10 Maine is just one of 5 states where CBCAP funds are awarded directly to a nonprofit outside of state Cross System Collaboration Reports from the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability in 2018, OCFS Child Welfare Forums in 2020, and Casey Family Programs in 2021 have all identified the need for the state Child Welfare agency to improve collaboration with community providers and other state agencies that serve the same families. Research on multi-system coordination has found the expectation that collaboration can occur without a supporting infrastructure is one of the most frequent reasons why it fails. 8 Infrastructure is needed to support Child Welfare staff to collaborate effectively with community providers and other state agencies.