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Promise or Pablum? What a New Administration Means for America's Families
Remarks By Shay Bilchik Before the Casey Journalism Center Conference at The National Press Club
2/12/01
This is an exciting time in the Nation's Capital. We have a new Administration and a new Congress. And whether one agrees or disagrees with the policies or proposals that will be forthcoming, there is a sense of anticipation around what is to come.
I have been described as being an optimist in how I approach these moments in time. If you have ever managed an organization you know that it is good to have a portion of your staff whom you can classify in this category. And if you have ever been involved in politics or the political process, it is good to have a little bit of the same trait. Although in more current parlance that optimism is known as "resilience."
So, you might say that for the last 81 years CWLA has been in the resiliency business- advocating for children and families since 1920 in a resilient manner, and also building on the resilience of the children and families we serve.
- Our origins stem from the first White House Conference on Children, convened by Theodore Roosevelt.
- Our 1,150 public and private nonprofit agencies serve millions of the nation's most vulnerable children and families each year.
- We have a great interest in what the new administration will propose to promote child well-being, stop the victimization of children, and strengthen their families and communities, and, perhaps most importantly, how it will fully define the phrase "leave no child behind."
I think it is safe to say that most of us would agree the vast majority of American children and families do very well. It's a remarkable country. I think most of us would also agree that we've seen very encouraging trends recently in such areas as teen pregnancy, crime, and even poverty. But real and widespread problems persist, and so it's right that we commit to not leaving a single child behind.
- There are at least 1,000 child abuse and neglect deaths each year, compared with about 60 police officer deaths.
- There were as many suicides committed by our children and youth during the juvenile crime crisis years of the mid 80's to the early 90's as there were juvenile homicides. In fact, the suicide rate for our children and youth is growing faster than that of any other age category.
- There are nearly 600,000 kids in foster care, all because of serious abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
- More than 100,000 teens are in detention facilities.
- Nearly 2,000,000 children have a parent in prison.
- Nearly 12 million children still live in poverty, especially very young children and minority children.
Yes, we've made investments in health and social services to lessen these problems. And yes, every state can point to new or effective programs. But it's not been enough and it's not at the scale needed.
- Of the 122,000 children in the child welfare system eligible for adoption in 1998, only 36,000 of them were adopted.
- HHS tells us that only 12%, or 1.7 million out of an eligible 14.7 million kids, are receiving subsidized child care.
- A government report on "Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being" tells us that 68% of children in families below the poverty line were in good to excellent health, compared with 86% for children in families above the poverty line.
- That same interagency report tells us that 36% of households with children had problems with housing that is physically inadequate, crowded, too expensive, or all three.
- Millions of children are referred to child protective services but, in some jurisdictions, as many as 85% of those referrals might be triaged "out" because of a shortage of social workers.
- Approximately two thirds of the families coming into the child welfare system are in need of substance abuse treatment, yet the child welfare system can only provide treatment for 30% of those families.
- Only 5% of the children who need mentors in this country, who need the influence of a positive adult in their life, are matched with those mentors.
- There are an estimated 8 million latch key children in this country- children who come home to an empty house. In urban settings, 20% of kids who need after-school programs get them. In rural setting, 33% do.
So we welcome President Bush's commitment to leaving no child behind, especially his apparent priority on the most vulnerableÑthose whoÕve been abused and neglected. We are optimistic that a well-funded and sustained administrative initiative, if forthcoming, would do much to reduce child abuse and neglect and enhance the well-being of our children.
A commitment by the President to do so would be consistent with a poll conducted approximately a week ago by Opinion Research Corporation International of Princeton, New Jersey, for Fight Crime/Invest In Kids, a national anticrime organization consisting of prosecutors, police chiefs, and victims. The poll asked, "which of the following priorities, if any, are more important than cutting taxes?" The results were:
- 75% of the public prioritized "reducing child abuse and neglect."
- 72% prioritized "helping schools better educate disadvantaged students."
- 67% prioritized "providing access to after-school programs and school readiness programs like Head Start."
CWLA has historically supported a broad agenda to help children and families- an agenda that calls for an investment in the protection and nurturing of our children. Some question the benefit of making this investment. We know more, however, than ever about what works and how to convert research to practice and to replicate effective programs. (Nurse Home Visiting; preschool programs such as Perry, Abecedarian, and Head Start; Big Brothers Big Sisters; after-school programs such as Boys Clubs and Girls Clubs; and CWLA Standards of Excellence.) So this is an investment that makes sense. It is the type of investment that we have made in a very targeted manner at another point in time in the history of this country. In fact, what I suggest is that we need to invest the same in our kids and families as we do in the elderly.
Two generations ago the elderly poverty rate was nearly double the child poverty rate. Since then, the elderly poverty rate has dropped two-thirds, to just under 10%. The child poverty rate has climbed into the 20th percentiles, and only in the last few years has dropped back to the 17% or so level of two generations ago
The reason for improvement among the elderly? Federal transfer payments and subsidies that guarantee at least a minimum quality of life, including
- Cost of living adjustments in Social Security and other government pensions,
- Medicare/Medicaid,
- Subsidized housing,
- Food stamps,
- Older Americans Act, and
- Supplemental Security Income
These are the types of things many of our elderly needed to be safe, to be protected, to be healthy, and to rise out of the poverty that engulfed them. So how does this translate to a legislative agenda and what we may see in terms of what Congress may tackle this year? Our priorities for this session include:
- Tax reductions that put money in the hands of the working poor with children, such as an earned income tax credit, refundable child tax credit, and refundable dependent care tax credit. The earned income tax credit is a demonstrated success in helping to lift families out of poverty.
- Substance abuse treatment that addresses a major cause of children being removed from families (ASFA impact).
- Increased federal and state funding to protect children from abuse and neglect and strengthening their families.
- Younger Americans Act
- The reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
- Faith-Based Initiative
- Child Welfare Workforce and Training
The country is looking at a huge federal budget surplus. This is good news for everybody. It should be good news for our kids.
Right now, however, kids' needs are hardly mentioned as priorities in our budget discussions. The poll I cited says that the public believes otherwise. I am eager to see the coverage of the upcoming budget decisionmaking process. This will be your opportunity to tell the whole story behind our treatment of our children and the legislative issues that affect them.
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