Public child welfare agencies typically offer four main sets of services — child protection, family-centered support, foster care and adoption. Child protection teams are focused on assessing and investigating potential cases of child abuse and neglect and intervening when appropriate.
In recent years, the number of confirmed victims of child maltreatment has held steady — at around 670,000 kids annually. The vast majority of these children —75% — have experienced neglect. Other forms of maltreatment include physical abuse (18% of all confirmed cases), sexual abuse (8% of all confirmed cases) and emotional abuse (6% of all confirmed cases) and medical neglect (2% of all confirmed cases).
News Release
Thriving Families, Safer Children: A National Commitment to Well-Being has expanded its reach to include child welfare jurisdictions in 22 states that stretch from coast to coast and a sovereign tribal nation. Learn more about this effort.
Blog Post
Results of a recent survey from the Urban Institute shine a spotlight on gaps in child welfare research and reveal a need for major systems transformation. The survey, funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, indicates that respondents see the expansion of prevention services as a top priority for strengthening families.
Blog Post
South Carolina is leading an ambitious statewide effort to bolster and expand family support services — aiming to reduce reliance on the child protection system. Learn about the new approach.
Webinar
The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently cohosted a webinar series — "The Unlearning of Child Welfare: A National Conversation to Advance Child and Family Well-Being" — to foster discussion about what is needed to rebuild the child welfare system.
Blog Post
The Annie E. Casey Foundation partners with NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services to launch a pilot program that pairs parents navigating the foster care system with parent advocates who know what it’s like.
Report
This brief presents research on the experiences of two neighboring jurisdictions that worked to implement an intervention called Multisystemic Therapy for Emerging Adults (MST-EA).
Blog Post
A new report calls on child welfare systems to stop placing kids in group settings. It also shares evidence-based policy recommendations that promote family-based alternatives.
Blog Post
Child welfare agencies in Minnesota are using the passage of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act as an opportunity to deploy a racial equity impact assessment.
News Release
A new effort, Thriving Families, Safer Children, aims to move from traditional, reactive child protection systems to those designed to support child and family well-being and prevent child maltreatment and unnecessary family separations. Read the news release.
Blog Post
Fellow Felipe Franco works to support best practices for youth involved with the juvenile justice system. Read how his participation in the Casey Foundation's Children and Family Fellowship supports his work.