Family-Centered Anti-Poverty Strategies to Address Child Neglect

This paper addresses the often-overlooked findings that over 60% of screened-in the cases coming to the child welfare system in the United States represent neglect and not abuse. The child protection services (CPS) system was not designed with child neglect as the predominant form of maltreatment. Current practices of incident-oriented investigations and substantiation may not be relevant to the majority of families in the system. More supportive, family-centered models and service designs are offered, based on promising practices. These include services that address poverty and unemployment along with material hardship. Economic, employment and occupational ladders and related anti-poverty suggestions are recommended for families with material needs. A table comparing incident-based CPS to a needs-based alternative is offered along with a call for more TANF linked and community-based interventions to address poverty, unemployment, and risks for child neglect. More systematic attention to poverty and unemployment will also address racial disproportionalities in the U.S. child welfare system. From an international perspective, this article offers what some of the lessons might be in moving from an incident-driven child protection system to one that is more family focused and oriented to the needs of the family and child. Several examples of promising programs are offered from other nations.