News From the Field (WINTER 2024)
National child welfare policy, practice and research
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Welcome to the Winter Issue of News from the Field! My co-Faculty Directors and I are excited for the start of the Spring semester and the continued opportunity to work with talented students and colleagues across campus. In this issue, you will read about how our Field Center graduate students, alongside our staff and faculty, are involved in campus and community initiatives driving innovation for child and family wellbeing.
This year, I’ll be focusing much of my work on the PHLHousing+ Study currently underway as a partnership between the Housing Initiative at Penn, the Risk and Resilience Lab, and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation. The PHLHousing+ Program is a housing-focused cash transfer program in Philadelphia that provides unconditional monthly cash payments to low-income households over 2.5 years. The goal of the study is to test whether unconditional monthly cash payments reduce housing insecurity, improve housing quality, and improve economic, academic, and health outcomes for children and families. We will compare the impact of monthly cash payments with housing choice vouchers, currently the federal government’s largest form of housing assistance for low-income renters.
I’m also proud to elevate the work of co-Faculty Director Cindy Connolly, who was invited to present her historical research on children and drug development and policy at FDA and CDC workshops. Her child welfare expertise informs her explanation of how and why children have historically been “left out” of discussions regarding drug safety and efficacy. Data from children and adolescents, particularly those from the most vulnerable populations, are needed to inform policies and practices in pediatric drug regulation. Dr. Connolly reminds us that both historically and today, who “speaks for children” is a contentious issue.
As always, we are grateful to you, our readers, for engaging with the critical issues that affect child and family wellbeing. We send you our best wishes for a healthy and happy 2024.
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Sara Jaffee, PhD
Professor
University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology
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RE-EVISIONING FOSTER CARE IN AMERICA |
Last semester, Field Center Associate Director Sarah Wasch traveled to Boston, MA, to attend Treehouse Foundation’s “Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America” Conference. Unlike any other professional conference in child welfare, this event holds the distinction of being 100% planned and presented by individuals with lived experience in foster care. Attendees were exposed to critical learning in diverse child welfare topics, including creating effective policy change, creating community support for those who’ve experienced trauma, integrating lived experience, understanding equity, and much more.
A conference highlight was the live recording of two episodes of Angela Tucker’s “Innovate!” Podcast, a “discussion with visionary leaders using their lived experience expertise to improve life outcomes for our nation’s children and youth in foster care”. To listen to these incredible episodes (S3:E9 & S3:E10), and all of the Innovate! Podcast, click here.
More information about the REFCA Conference is available on the Treehouse Foundation website. We look forward to networking with colleagues at this conference in the future!
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New Paper! The stark implications of abolishing child welfare
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Faculty Director Johanna Greeson and colleagues recently published an original article, The stark implications of abolishing child welfare: An alternative path towards support and safety, in Child & Family Social Work.
Scholars and advocates are at odds about how to achieve higher levels of child safety and permanency. Authors here suggest several evidence-informed enhancements to practice, research and policy that would mitigate racial and economic inequities while increasing safety and permanency in child welfare.
View the published article here. |
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To promote our vision where children are loved and nurtured, and families have access to the resources they need to thrive, please consider a donation to the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research.
To learn more about how you can support our work, please contact the SP2 Director of Institutional Advancement Bart Miltenberger at miltenbe@upenn.edu or 215-573-5624.
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Stay Connected and Stay Informed
Stay up to date with the latest in child welfare by following the Field Center on social media. Click the buttons below to follow The Field Center:
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Upcoming Child Welfare Conferences
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law National Parent Representation Conference
April 11-12, 2024
McLean, VA
CWLA 2024 National Conference: Creating Meaningful Change
April 17-19, 2024
Washington, DC
Family Focused Treatment Association 38th Annual Conference
July 7-10, 2024
Denver, CO
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FIELD CENTER STUDENTS ATTEND ADVOCACY DAY
By Katherine Paulikonis, MSW Student
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The advocacy day emphasized the need for legislative action to bridge gaps between Pennsylvania's housing and education systems, highlighting the urgency for funding to combat youth homelessness. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), about 40,000 children and youth were identified as homeless unaccompanied youth in Pennsylvania in 2023. With strong connections between experiences of homelessness and foster care placement (NFYI, 2023), and homelessness adversely impacting the financial, educational, and social-emotional outcomes of children and families (PDE, 2023), promoting family stability is a critical focus of the Field Center. Adele and Katherine left motivated to contribute to positive change, recognizing the importance of building relationships, elevating youth voice, and facilitating access to services for children and families experiencing homelessness.
Policy recommendations highlighted during the listening session and rally focused on prioritizing academic support, creating transition plans for youth with foster care experience after high school, and ensuring access to personal identification documents. For more information about the legislative proposals and amendments addressed during the advocacy day, read the Legislative Updates below.
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PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATIVE UPDATES – ADDRESSING OLDER YOUTH NEEDS |
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Innovative policies and laws are needed to ensure that children and youth experiencing homelessness or placement in foster care have access to the supports and resources needed to thrive. Below are four bills currently introduced in the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania that could impact educational and developmental success for young people:
HB-127: The amendment to Pennsylvania's Title 75 (Vehicles) includes provisions waiving fees for learners’ permits for homeless youth identified by a state agency. These individuals can use a shelter or school address as a temporary address, provided they are enrolled in an education program to qualify for the fee waiver.
HB-729: Mandates that all institutions of higher education, both public and private, prioritize on-campus housing for students experiencing homelessness or in foster care. Additionally, the bill mandates that these institutions appoint a homeless youth liaison to identify services, offer financial aid information, and grant tuition waivers to homeless youth after applying scholarships or grants.
HB-730: An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in general provisions relating to children and minors, providing for contracting and consent by certain minors. This act would allow for 16- and 17-year-olds to apply to high schools or post-secondary schools, as well as contract for services such as housing, employment, loans, bank accounts, and more.
HB-1175: An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, providing for the Pilot Program for Homeless Youth in Higher Education. This act would provide for a pilot program located at six colleges and universities to assist students experiencing homelessness access needs such as technology, food, safe housing, and other services so they can prioritize their education. Participating schools will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the program to inform future legislation.
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RACIAL DISPROPORTIONALITY IN CPS: SYMPOSIUM RECAP
By Adele Lehman, Field Center MSW Intern
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Racial disproportionality in Child Protective Services (CPS) is well-documented (USDHHS, 2023), and the extent to which CPS reporting contributes to this disparity is a major topic of discussion among child welfare experts and practitioners. Based on the 2021 child population data (AECF, 2023) and CPS hotline report data (Children’s Bureau, 2023), Black children are 80% more likely to be reported to CPS than White children, meaning that for every 1 out of 100 White children reported to CPS, 1.8 Black children are reported. Disproportionality persists from the point of initial CPS contact throughout the continuum of child welfare system involvement, with Black children representing 14% of the total child population in 2021, but 22% of all children in foster care (Children’s Bureau, 2023). |
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Last semester, The Field Center hosted a Community Symposium on this topic and what big data can tell us about it, featuring guest lecturer Dr. Brett Drake, Professor of Data Science for the Social Good in Practice at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. He presented the findings of his recently co-authored research study which examined fifteen years of national child maltreatment reporting data. Drake et al. (2023) argue that Black children are not overreported to CPS relative to their risk, and that child welfare experts and policymakers should redirect their focus to expanding supports for Black children and families...
Click here to learn more and read the full article from Adele.
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FIELD CENTER RECENT PRESENTATIONS, PUBLICATIONS, & GRANTS |
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Faculty Directors Cindy Christian, MD and Kara Finck, Esq. presented a session titled “Foregrounding professional ethics in integrated child abuse investigations” at the New York City Babies and Toddlers Trauma Investigation Conference in New York, NY.
Faculty Director Cindy Christian, MD presented a session titled “What all investigators need to know about child physical abuse” at the New York State Police Conference on Child Physical Abuse in Albany, NY.
Associate Director Sarah Wasch delivered a workshop to PHENND AmeriCorps and Next Steps AmeriCorps on Higher Education Access for Students with Foster Care Experience.
Faculty Director Cindy Connolly, PhD, RN was invited to present her historical research on children and drug development and policy at FDA and CDC workshops.
Faculty Director Sara Jaffee, PhD presented her work “Resistance to maltreatment in early adulthood does not predict low allostatic load at midlife” at the November American Society of Criminology meeting.
Field Center experts recently published the following:
Nurmatov, U., Cowley, L.E., Rodrigues, L. B., Naughton, A., Debelle, G., Alfandari, R., Lamela, D., Otterman, G., Jud, A., Ntinaogias, A., Laajasalo, T., Soldino, V., Stancheva, V., Caenazzo, L., Vaughn, R., Christian, C.W., Drabarek, K., Kemp, A.M. & Hurt, L. (2023). Consensus building on definitions and types of child maltreatment to improve recording and surveillance in Europe: protocol for a multi-sectoral, European, electronic Delphi study. BMJ open, 13(12), e076517.
Garcia, A.R., Berrick, J.D., Jonson-Reid, M., Barth, R.P., Gyourko, J.R., Kohl, P., Greeson, J.K.P., Drake, B., & Cook, V. (2024). The stark implications of abolishing child welfare: An alternative path towards support and safety. Child & Family Social Work, 1–13.
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