Child Abuse

Child Maltreatment Report Published

HHS has released the annual child abuse report: Child Maltreatment 2017. The numbers are similar to past years. For FY 2017, there are an estimated 674,000 victims of child abuse and neglect. The victim rate is 9.1 victims per 1,000 children in the population. The numbers are like the previous year—2016 when 676,000 victims. Much

Advocates Tell Congress Child Sexual Abuse is Preventable

Kylie Hunter On January 29, the Committee for Children, Futures Without Violence, and the National Children’s Alliance held a congressional briefing to discuss strategies to prevent child sexual abuse. Panelist consisted of Delegate C.T. Wilson, Maryland; Deborah Chosewood, Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services; Dr. James Mercy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);

Finance Chair Seeks Information From Olympic Committee on Sexual Abuse

On January 22, Senate Finance Committee Chair, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to the head of the United States Olympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland asking what actions the Committee has taken to prevent future instances of sexual abuse of Olympic athletes. The letter is a follow up to last year’s congressional action in response

CWLA Reaches Out to Freshman Class

This week CWLA reached out to the more than 100 new members of the 116th Congress with a child welfare background package of information including Investing in All of Child Welfare. This piece argues for investing in ALL of child welfare services: Child welfare’s continuum of care includes prevention of child abuse before it happens

Home Visiting Organization Briefs New Congress

On Tuesday, January 8 at the Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives (ASTHI) held one of the first briefings on Capitol Hill for the new Congress. The focus of the briefing was to explain to members of Congress—including many of the new members—what research demonstrates when it comes to home visiting program. The

Child Trends Survey Shows State Child Welfare Spending Consistent with Past

This past December, Child Trends released a new survey of state child welfare spending based on 2016 state fiscal years. The biennial survey indicates that overall spending in combined federal, state and local child welfare dollars remained somewhat stable from the past survey (based on 2014) with spending up by 5 percent. But over ten

Child Trends Survey Shows Waivers Are Funding Traditional IV-E Services

The new Child Trends survey of state child welfare spending indicates that the overwhelming use of Title IV-E funding through Title IV-E waivers has been used for services that can be currently paid for under the current Title IV-E law. The funding totaled approximately $2 billion. According to the survey of 24 states providing data

HHS Releases First Guidance On Family First Services

Late Friday, The Administration on Children and Families released its first guidance and preliminary list of services for funding under the Family First Prevention Services Act (PL 115-123)—(FFA). The guidance at ACYF-CB-PI-18-09 gives an overview of some of the initial decisions made by HHS in the interpretation and implementation of the Family First Act. Included

Family Separation at Border Much Earlier: 60 Minutes

Last Sunday, November 25, the CBS news program, 60 Minutes, reported on children separated at the border. What the 60 Minutes segment revealed was what some critics had suspected; they had been separating children from their families much earlier than 2018. The story also documented through interviews with officials from within the government some of

Children’s Bureau Encourages More Primary Prevention

On November 16, the Children’s Bureau issued ACYF-CB-IM-18-05, a memorandum on primary prevention, and “to strongly encourage all child welfare agencies and Children’s Bureau (CB) grantees to work together with the courts and other appropriate public and private agencies and partners to plan, implement and maintain integrated primary prevention networks and approaches to strengthen families

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