Child Welfare

This document synthesizes the discussion from the Roundtable on Homeless Children. The background paper from this meeting is also available and provides an update on the research, policy, laws, and funding for programs and services for children who are homeless in the United States. [12 PDF pages]

Despite the knowledge that homeless children face poor outcomes, research has largely focused on the parent(s) in a homeless family, perhaps because these children are still part of a family unit. The children themselves, however, have different and separate needs from their parent(s).

  ASPE RESEARCH BRIEF The Mental Health of Vulnerable Youth and their Transition to Adulthood: Examining the Role of the Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Runaway/Homeless Systems August 2009

This study examines changes in policies and procedures in local child protective services (CPS) agencies between 2002 and 2005-2006.

About 45 states maintain child abuse registries, which are databases that allow child protective services investigators routine access to child abuse history information to inform better current investigations. Most states also use their registries to conduct pre-employment background checks on persons who work with children, such as day care providers.

The overall purpose of this report is to show how marital quality, strengths, and/or interpersonal protective factors work to enhance the probability that children will do better among families where strengths are higher. Additionally, we reviewed the research about parental marital quality and child outcomes and showed how those two constructs are connected.

In 2006, ASPE funded the Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives Project to provide information to state and local child welfare administrators who are considering or implementing privatization reforms. The project has produced papers on a range of topics providing insights about factors that should be considered when approaching or improving upon privatization efforts.

This practice brief profiles three work experience programs that engage nearly all work-ready TANF recipients in unpaid work activities, either alone or in conjunction with education and training. Unpaid work experience is designed to mirror regular employment in the paid labor market.

This practice brief profiles two strategies, one statewide and one local, for analyzing, reporting, and using data to hold case managers and administrators accountable for increasing the work participation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients.