week 6 post 4

Research child welfare services in states across the country. Find one that is particularly more successful at meeting children's needs than others. In what ways does their child welfare system differ from the state where you live? Which practices would you like to see implemented in your state?

Gabriela Thompson

Hello everyone,

Each state child welfare agency is mandated by the federal government to meet certain guidelines in its day-to-day operations. For this reason, nearly every agency utilizes very similar plans of action. While these agencies operate in very similar manners, some state agencies are more successful than others. For instance, in 2019, the State of West Virginia received 42,838 referrals. Of those 42,838 cases, 6,727 of those children were found to be victims of maltreatment or abuse. While these agencies try to place children with family members, many children are removed from the home and placed into foster care with plans for adoption. In 2019 the average stay in foster care before adoption in West Virginia was 23 months, with 1,675 children being adopted (Child trends, 2019).

In comparing the state of West Virginia to my home State of North Carolina, I found that the number of referrals to child welfare was much higher than West Virginia. North Carolina child welfare agencies received 55,122 referrals. While the number of referrals was drastically higher, the number of children who were found to be malnourished or abused was drastically lower, with that number being only 5,601. The State of North Carolina shows that of the 1,546 children that were adopted by foster care with an average time of 33.4 months. These statistics show that West Virginia places more focus on adoption, which provides these children with supportive families. I feel that the state of North Carolina may be able to learn from the strategies utilized by the State of West Virginia (Child trends, 2019).

Hello class,

1 in every 4 girls are sexually abused before her 18th birthday. 1 and every 6 boys are sexually abused before his 18th birthday. The scariest part is 98 percent of them know the abuser. According to The Invisible Child, in 2020 the worst child well-being states were Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi & Texas. While the best states were Washington, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine & Minnesota. In 2019 in Washington most of their children (62%) who were in foster care were reunited with their families. 27% were adopted out of foster care, and 8% were moved out of foster care to live with relatives. In Washington 74% of children end up in foster care because of neglect. The Casey Family Program works with all 50 states to securely decrease the demand for foster care and impact extended-permanent upgrades to the well-being of families, relatives and the populations where they reside. What I like about my state in Illinois is 91% of our children do not experience a repeat of malnutrition within six months.

 

https://cacjctx.org/

/www.invisiblechildren.org

https://www.casey.org/state-data/

Andrela Spencer-Dismukes