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The Season For Children
For more information, contact
Joyce Johnson
Phone: 804/492-4519
Cell: 703/980-7641
E-mail: jjohnson@cwla.org
April 19, 2001, Washington, DC --
Spring is upon us. It is the season of sunny days, flowers, baseball, picnics, and more outdoor time with our families. But the reality for many children is much different than this ideal. For them, spring's promise is overshadowed by the reality of abuse and neglect, inadequate and sometimes unsafe child care, and school failure- the price they pay as a result of our failure to give them a "head start" as they enter school for the first time.
For these children, adult promises to protect and support can be empty words, as each year there are nearly three million reports of child abuse and neglect and approximately 1,000 related deaths. Child maltreatment is the reason more than 500,000 children are in foster care, living a life suspended in time. And this disturbing picture is compounded by the fact that hundreds of thousands of our children do not get the quality child care or preschool education they need and deserve.
The words still echo in my mind. "Children are our future. Invest in kids." Just a few months ago, Americans applauded these slogans during the presidential campaign. While it is still too early to judge the Administration's commitment to these slogans, the just-released FY 2002 budget indicates that only modest new investments are planned to help the nation's most vulnerable population. We can do better.
President Bush's FY 2002 budget does provide some new supports to stop child abuse and neglect and strengthen families. But, these new investments are wholly inadequate relative to the size of the problem and the nation's resources. What makes this situation even worse is that the budget also includes some cuts in funding for social services, early childhood programs, parent education, and programs that support child abuse prevention and treatment. In addition, several other key programs that help distressed children and families would receive no increases under the Presidents plan.
It's clear that the budget limits new investments in child protection and other children's programs in order to achieve the President's top priority of a $1.6 trillion tax cut.
That's a shame because new investments in better protecting and supporting children would confirm what we all know intuitively, as well as what has been confirmed through our research: the benefits of preventing child abuse, and providing quality child care, health care, and a superior education far outweigh their costs. The Rand Corporation's 1998 study, Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know about the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions, estimated that taxpayers save two dollars for every dollar spent for effective up-front services. The non-financial benefits were even more significant. They include:
- Gains in child development and improved parent-child relationships;
- Improvements in educational outcomes;
- Increased economic self-sufficiency;
- Reduced levels of criminal activity; and
- Reductions in child abuse and parental substance abuse.
The President's budget does not reflect the support repeatedly expressed by the American people for more investments to nurture and protect children. Every time a poll asks the public if they are willing to prioritize the spending of tax dollars for child protection and other children's services they always say, "Yes. Kids are a priority for me and helping them should be a top priority for our country."
The American public is clear: Make this season of surpluses the season for children. So let the debate over the budget rage on. If the President wants to assist every child in need - to leave no child behind - the budget he supports and ultimately agrees with Congress to accept, must reflect the generosity needed to honor his pledge. The country has the knowledge and the resources. The President will enjoy the deep support of the public for trying.
Shay Bilchik is the Executive Director of the Child Welfare League of America.
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