“In Santa Cruz County, there’s a new approach that prioritizes community support to help families, led by the Child, Youth & Family Well-Being Partnership. The Child Youth & Family Well-Being Partnership brings together County agencies and nonprofits to provide coordinated mental health, social and family support services with a focus on preventing crises, supporting education and
“Colorado is refocusing efforts on child abuse prevention this Child Abuse Prevention Month, shifting from solely responding to incidents to proactive support for families. This change comes after new data revealed nearly 6,000 children in the state were victims of abuse or neglect last year. The Pikes Peak region, in particular, recorded more than 18,000 calls
“Bills to support families at risk for intervention by Child Welfare Services and fund domestic violence training for caseworkers are still alive at the Legislature. Patty Chin believes her life would have been very different if Hawaiʻi’s child welfare system worked the way it should. She landed in foster care at age 10, she said,
What mandated reporter training misses about racism and family safety. “I’ll never forget being called to do a psychiatric consult on a preschooler hospitalized for a serious heart condition. His parents had been labeled “noncompliant” and “difficult.” “They’re refusing surgery,” the resident calling in the consult said. “My attending said we might have to call Child Protective
“This column relates accounts of family engagement by a nonprofit working to keep families together while avoiding child welfare involvement. Our work is built around preventing family separation, so the last call we ever want to make is to the Child Protective Services (CPS) hotline. Families choose to work with us voluntarily, and we walk
“The first time a grandmother told us she was afraid to ask for help, it was not because she did not need it. It was because she had learned that asking questions often led to more questions. More forms. More scrutiny. And sometimes, more risk. She was raising her grandchildren outside foster care. She wanted
“In recent years, a quiet but massive change has taken place in the nation’s largest local child welfare system. A growing number of calls to the CPS hotline prompt a referral to a food bank or homeless shelter — instead of a social worker investigation. Public hospitals no longer report new moms for using drugs.
“The family—not the state—is the first and most essential institution of a free people. America must restore the family’s sovereign role in raising and protecting children. Government overreach has turned protection into control. Most child removals stem from poverty or parenting differences, not abuse—evidence of a system that manages families instead of supporting them. Federal
“Across the political divide, Americans agree: the government makes a terrible parent. That makes it critical to fund approaches that strengthen families — and keep children out of foster care. The looming spending package moving through Congress proposes cuts that would devastate government programs that are essential for keeping families together — programs that help
“Johnette Hill, a single mother of four, was experiencing homelessness and financial hardship. During this period, she was raising three of her young children — ages 10, 6 and 4 — while living in hotels. Without a car, Johnette relied on walking and public transportation to commute to work, often arriving late. Eventually, she lost
