Child Welfare

woman hugging childEvery year more than 700,000 children are abused or neglected, and each day 1,200 children are removed from their families to enter foster care. The consequences of child maltreatment can be profound and may endure long after the abuse or neglect occurs, affecting various aspects of an individual's development. Yet, fewer than four in ten abused or neglected children and families receive necessary services  and supports to overcome challenges.

Related Topics

Trauma-Informed Care

Latest Work

5 Nov 2020
Spotlight

Spotlight on Native Nations

Contributing and working alongside Native Nations, AIR has a deep commitment to engaging communities, fostering shared vision and values, building capacity, and developing strategic alliances to achieve sustainable systems change in Indian Country.
Image of baby with parents
3 Aug 2020
Q & A

A Quick Word with Alex Holod on Awareness of Family Leave Policy in California

According to existing research, giving mothers paid time off could lead to both improved health outcomes and overall costs savings from reduced employee turnover and re-training costs. AIR's Alex Holod describes the benefits of family leave for both parent and child, why some parents aren’t taking full advantage of available family leave, and the lessons that California's Family Leave practices offer the rest of the country.
16 Jul 2020
Podcast

AIR Informs Episode #8: Supporting the Foster Care Community During COVID-19

The foster care system was already overburdened before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now, it faces even more challenges. AIR early childhood expert and licensed foster mom Ann-Marie Faria discusses these challenges and potential ways to address them in the latest podcast episode.
Illustration of AIR Expert Ann-Marie Faria
26 May 2020
Q & A

Meet the Expert: Ann-Marie Faria

AIR early childhood development and education expert, Ann-Marie Faria, Ph.D., focuses on quantitative research in early childhood settings, drawing on her experience as a former kindergarten and elementary school teacher. In this Q&A, she discusses her research at AIR, focused on documenting and improving quality in the early childhood mixed delivery system.
Project

California’s Family Child Care Networks: An Opportunity to Bring to Full Scale

California’s state-supported networks could play a critical role in sustaining family child care providers, an important source of child care for infants and toddlers as well as mixed-age groups. AIR conducted a study which describes the history and current state of FCC networks in California, analyzes their roles in the pandemic and the challenges they face, and lays out recommendations and opportunities for the future.
Project

Changing the Trajectories of Children in Foster Care: The Safe Babies Court Team Evaluation

Children in foster care are at risk for poor developmental outcomes, including increased rates of poor health, higher rates of depression and anxiety, more attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders, more problems in school, and increased rates of incarceration and suicide. The Safe Babies Court Team™, created by ZERO TO THREE, is an approach that aims to reduce the time a child spends in foster care before reaching a permanent, safe home, and to improve the long-term well-being of children and families in the child welfare system.
Project

Children and Society: A Global Scan of Child Well-Being

All children deserve to live healthy lives and experience positive well-being. The aim for this work is to understand the context that includes the norms, values, and conditions that underpin child well-being in various countries, with the intention of transferring and applying that knowledge to the United States.
2 Aug 2017
Spotlight

Youth Violence Prevention

The complex factors contributing to youth violence in the U.S. and abroad are found at the individual, family, community, and societal levels.

Project

Early Language Home Visiting Study

Consistent, correct use of evidence-based practices by practitioners, such as home visitors, can help improve children’s outcomes. However, a number of factors, such as lack of access to high-quality professional learning opportunities, stand in the way of increasing use of evidence-based practices. This project offers insight into supporting home visitors’ use of evidence-based practices and assessments.
Project

Transitional Housing for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence: A 2014-15 Snapshot

The Snapshot explores challenges facing transitional housing programs serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and examines underlying issues, contributing factors, and diverse approaches taken to address those challenges.
photo of Trish Campie
8 Dec 2016
Blog Post

Transitions to Adulthood: Succeeding in College

At 21, many foster youth “age out” of financial benefits and supports from the child welfare system—before they even finish college. Given the challenges they face, it’s not surprising that only 3 to 10 percent of them earn undergraduate degrees compared with 34 percent of young adults who weren’t in foster care. What can states do to ensure foster youth have the support they need to graduate from college? In this blog post, Patricia Campie provides an overview of the educational challenges foster students face in the transition to college.
Project

National Poverty Study

In the U.S. and many other countries, there’s a well-developed infrastructure for counting the number of people in poverty. The National Poverty Study seeks to move beyond that to answer questions regarding the changing conditions of poverty, how those conditions differ across places and “poverty types,” and how those in poverty respond to these differing conditions.
1 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Latest Child Numbers Offer Good News for Parents

This long, hot summer could use some good news. And we have it. Teen pregnancy, alcohol and tobacco use by students, children’s exposure to second-hand smoke, motor vehicle-related child deaths, and the rate at which young people are victimized by serious crimes have reached 20-year lows. In this blog post, Frank Rider shares uplifting findings from America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2016.
29 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Growing Up in Foster Care: Elementary and Middle School

In this second blog post in a series examining educational challenges facing youth in foster care, from early childhood into college, Trish Campie offers some promising solutions to creating pathways to college and career success.
23 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Growing Up in Foster Care: Our Littlest Ones

One-third of the 400,000 children in foster care enter the system before age five, just as they should be making the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Seventy-five percent of kids in foster care must change schools, often multiple times, which means they tend to fall behind their classmates, miss more days in school, and experience lower high school graduation rates and less success in college. In this blog post, Patricia Campie offers five research-based ways to bolster school readiness and reduce risks when early entry into foster care disrupts children’s educational opportunities.
22 Jun 2016
Report

What Do Transitional Kindergarten Classrooms Look Like in the Third Year of the Program’s Implementation?

California’s Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff. This fifth short report in a series highlighting findings from the Study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program focuses on what we have learned about the structure, teachers, and instruction in TK classrooms in the 2014–15 school year.
Preschool teacher with kids
26 May 2016
Brief

Ten Questions Local Policymakers Should Ask About Expanding Access to Preschool

High-quality preschool programs can have far reaching benefits for kids, parents, and communities—and they can provide a high return on initial investments. This 10 Series report summarizes our key findings about local preschool initiatives in 10 U.S. communities.
elementary children raising their hands excitedly
31 Jul 2015
Spotlight

Title I at 50: Past, Present, and Future

This spotlight takes a look at the history of Title I, how the program has changed over time, and how it affects children, schools, families and education policy. Experts weigh in on the program's past and future in interviews, briefs, and blogs.
America's Youngest Outcasts report cover
30 Nov 2014
Report

America's Youngest Outcasts: A Report Card on Child Homelessness

Based on a calculation using the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education and the 2013 U.S. Census, 2.5 million children in America—one in every 30 children—go to sleep without a home of their own each year. America’s Youngest Outcasts looks at child homelessness nationally and in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranks the states from 1 (best) to 50 (worst), and examines causes of child homelessness and solutions.
10 Sep 2014
App

T4TA: Text 4 Technical Assistance

T4TA: Text 4 Technical Assistance connects users with experts and resources through their mobile phones on topics such as child welfare, juvenile justice, school climate, mentoring, youth development, and addressing disparities.
Project

Education Equals Partnership

California youth in foster care have lower performance in math and English language arts, experience more frequent changes in where they attend school, drop out of high school in greater numbers, and graduate at significantly lower rates, according to research commissioned by the Stuart Foundation.
Young boy at computer
21 Jul 2014
Spotlight

Creating Opportunities for Young Men of Color

In February 2014, President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. This week, the president is announcing an additional $104 million in funding from new partnerships with public and private groups to address the opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color at critical stages throughout their lives. AIR’s work focuses on issues critical to the support of young men of color, from childhood interventions to preparation for career success.
Image of Susan Muenchow
6 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Research and the Public Prekindergarten Debate

Early learning has few detractors, but publicly supported prekindergarten has many. In this blog post, Susan Muenchow cites a recent AIR study that refutes the main objections and makes the case for free early childhood programs.
29 May 2014
Toolkit

Participating in Court Proceedings on Behalf of Alaska Native Children

Alaska Native children are seven times more likely than non-natives to enter the state’s child welfare system. To protect the interests of these children and promote stability and security among families and tribes, federal law allows tribes to be involved in legal proceedings about child welfare and custody. AIR staff partnered with the National Indian Child Welfare Association to develop an online training for tribal workers, Be the Voice: Working Effectively with Courts, in conjunction with Alaska Native tribes and the state.
21 May 2014 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Event

Reconnecting System-Involved Youth: A Developmental Approach

Every year, hundreds of thousands of youth exit the juvenile justice and foster care systems, and many will struggle with transitioning to adulthood. AIR invites you to a briefing highlighting developmental approaches to effectively transition youth involved in systems, the experiences and needs of these youth, and mentoring as a fundamental support to help reconnect youth to education, employment, and community.
21 May 2014
Spotlight

Resources: A Developmental Approach to Reconnecting System-Involved Youth

On May 21, 2014, AIR hosted a briefing with U.S. Representative Robert “Bobby” Scott on Reconnecting System-Involved Youth: A Developmental Approach. Resources on topics related to that event are listed here.
19 May 2014
Video

Long Story Short: How Can Mentoring Help Children of Incarcerated Parents?

Almost two million children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent. In this video interview, Roger Jarjoura, principal researcher at AIR, explains how mentoring can help them stay engaged in school and thrive.
Project

Transforming Child Protection Systems in Russia and the U.S.: The US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange

Russia’s child protection system is engaged in a national initiative to reduce the number of children in orphanages and state care, build capacity of foster parents, and recruit mentors and adoptive parents to support young people as they learn to live on their own. The US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange is supporting this transformation by exchanging knowledge and skills among child protection experts and practitioners from both countries.
13 Mar 2014
Brief

Child Abuse Prevention: Putting What Works Into Practice

Child abuse prevention and other human service programs are under increasing pressure to demonstrate results and implement system and practice changes to improve outcomes. Putting What Works Into Practice describes important considerations for successfully implementing sustainable approaches with lasting benefit. It discusses critical activities that need to happen at different phases of implementation for leaders, policymakers, program managers, staff and stakeholders.
13 Mar 2014
Brief

Implementing Systems Change: How Neuroscience Informs the Process and Lessons from the Field

Changing systems, practices and programs to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families requires a comprehensive approach anchored in an understanding of relationships and context for individuals, organizations, and political, economic and social environments. Implementing Systems Change: How Neuroscience Informs the Process and Lessons from the Field describes five key elements critical for sustainable systems change.
3 Mar 2014
Report

Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Synthesis of Research and a September 2013 Listening Session

About 1.7 million youth in the U.S. have at least one parent in prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of parents held in prisons has risen 79 percent from 1991-2007. Youth with incarcerated parents fare worse than other youth on a range of educational and physical and mental health outcomes. Released at the end of January, Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Synthesis of Research and a September 2013 Listening Session synthesizes research and the voices and opinions of mentoring experts, practitioners, parents and youth shared at a listening session.
Project

Striving to Reduce Violence in Neighborhoods through Community Engagement

Two out of every three children were expected to be exposed to violence in 2013, according to a report by the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. To support communities in implementing evidence-based violence prevention, CDC contracted with AIR to deliver training and technical assistance using a public health approach that features sustainable community coalitions.
Project

National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline

The National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline supports educational practitioners in their efforts to transform the conditions for learning as well as harsh, exclusionary and disproportionate disciplinary practices in our nation's schools.
8 Oct 2013
Guide

Blueprint for Using Data to Reduce Disparities/Disproportionalities in Human Services and Behavioral Health Care

Disparities and disproportionalities in human services and behavioral health care—such as lack of access to prevention and treatment services—can threaten child, youth, and family development and well-being, as well as performance in school and on the job. This Blueprint enables communities and states to develop and implement data-driven strategies through a step-by-step process.

9 Sep 2013
Report

Roundtable: The Perspectives of Youth Affected by Exclusionary School Discipline

Exclusionary school discipline policies once instituted to prevent serious infractions have crept into discipline practices for minor issues. Youth who participated in a roundtable on the subject contend that it limits opportunities to learn and compromises academic achievement; is applied disproportionately and subjectively; and deprives students of the support services they need.
1 Sep 2013
Report

Health Reform and Immigrant Children, Youth, and Families: Opportunities and Challenges for Advancing Behavioral Health

Few situations pose a greater adjustment challenge than moving to a new country. The Affordable Care Act recognizes the impact of disparities in health status, health insurance coverage, treatment, and health services on vulnerable populations in the United States. This issue brief provides substantial insight into how the ACA addresses the unique health care challenges confronting children, youth, and families who have immigrated to the United States.
14 Jun 2013
Guide

Guide for Father Involvement in Systems of Care

Coinciding with Father's Day, the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health released an updated Guide for Father Involvement in Systems of Care to share information about the positive influences of fathers on their children’s lives and potential negative consequences when they are not involved.
Project

AIR Helps NYC Child Welfare Agency Assist Families Struggling after Hurricane Sandy

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated the Eastern coastline, particularly affecting areas of New York City and Long Island where many homes and businesses were destroyed. AIR supports New York City's Administration for Children's Services in recovery and preparation for future disasters.
22 Apr 2013
Report

Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children

Recent events such as those in Oklahoma, Boston, and Texas can leave people—especially children—feeling sad, angry, out of control, overwhelmed, and unsafe. The National Center on Family Homelessness developed a resource, Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children, to help.

29 Mar 2013
Video

Hans Bos Explains How Best to Design Education Research

In this video interview, Hans Bos, senior vice president at AIR, explains how to best use big data and design education research to have a real impact on people and issues. In particular, good research should be relevant, valid, and reliable, Bos says.
Project

Healing Hearts, Promoting Health

Healing Hearts, Promoting Health (HHPH) is an intensive pilot project that addresses the trauma and related nutrition, health, and wellness issues of recently displaced families and children, with particular focus on Haitian earthquake evacuees in Southern Florida.
Project

Improving the Lives of African American Males in the Child Welfare System

This project focuses on strategies and best practices for improving the lives of African American males in the child welfare system. The goals are to assist foster parents in supporting positive outcomes for the children and youth in their care and to help judges, juvenile court staff, and child welfare providers make quality referrals for placements and services.

Project

Service and Housing Interventions for Families in Transition (SHIFT) Study

The Service and Housing Interventions for Families in Transition (SHIFT) Longitudinal Study examines and compares the long-term outcomes of families entering shelters, transitional housing programs, and permanent supportive housing programs in four communities in upstate New York.

Project

Partners United for Supportive Housing Cedar Rapids

Partners United for Supportive Housing Cedar Rapids will work to retain family unity, provide stable housing, and improve family functioning and well-being for children who are in, or at-risk of entering, the child welfare system.

13 Jan 2013 to 14 Jan 2013
| 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Event

Improving Outcomes for African-American Males in the Child Welfare System (2013): Meeting Summary

Children who enter the child welfare system, particularly African-American males, are more likely to have mental health and other emotional challenges, as well as other problems including, but not limited to, low academic achievement, delinquency, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse.

12 Dec 2012
Report

Supporting Student Achievement through Sound Behavior Management Practices

Zero-tolerance school policies that remove youth from the classroom are resulting in an increasing number of students failing to complete high school, and in unnecessary involvement in the juvenile justice system. AIR has developed an evidence-based framework to address the issue across educational settings.

24 Feb 2012 | 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
Event

Improving Outcomes for African American Males in the Child Welfare System (2011)

Last fall, the Technical Assistance Partnership for Children’s Mental Health at AIR partnered with the Center for the Study of Social Policy through support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children, Youth and Families to convene a group of experts to address this pressing issue.

19 Dec 2011
Toolkit

Supporting Parents with Mental Health Needs in Systems of Care: A Child Welfare Issue Brief

AIR’s Senior Child Welfare Specialist Kim Helfgott guided the team that developed this issue brief which outlines methods for assisting parents with mental illness, who also have children who receive treatment or services from mental health or child welfare programs.

18 Jul 2011
Presentation

Using Data to Improve Program Implementation

This presentation outlines how state and local agencies can develop cost-effective, research-based approaches that holistically address the social emotional, academic, and health needs of children and youth, focusing on asset development along with treatment.

28 Apr 2011
Report

Benefits of Systems of Care for Child Welfare

This document describes the common goals and shared values between systems of care and child welfare, explains why child welfare should be involved in systems of care, and lists the benefits to child welfare from participating as part of a system of care.

5 Apr 2011
Report

Addressing Mental Health Services Disparities for Ethnically Diverse Children

This study addresses a significant shortcoming in the delivery of behavioral health services to children, namely, the large socio-economic and ethnic disparities between children who utilize services and those children who do not utilize services.

5 Apr 2011
Report

Evaluation of Policies, Procedures, and Practices Affecting the Education of Children Residing in Group Homes

The purpose of this project was to conduct a study of the education received by youth residing in licensed children's institutions (group homes) throughout California.

Project

Western and Pacific Child Welfare Implementation Center (WPIC)

Native Alaskan children, who are a majority of the children placed out-of-home in the state, face many challenges, as do Navajo Nation families in all 50 states. The Western and Pacific Child Welfare Implementation Center was funded by the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2008 to 2013 to address these challenges.
Project

Data Dashboard, Evaluation, and Consultation Support for New York State’s Office of Children and Family Services

AIR was asked to identify measures that would (1) gauge the progress of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) toward excellence and equity in the well-being of children, adults, and families; (2) function as a “dashboard” for monitoring; and (3) allow stakeholders to gauge the impacts of reform efforts to improve outcomes for New York State’s citizens.

Project

Research Roundtable on Children of Color in the Child Welfare System

The purpose of this project was to clarify, through recent research, the reasons for ethnic disproportionalities in child welfare, to make policy and practice recommendations to the Children’s Bureau, and to publish the research in a respected journal.

Project

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP)

AIR created the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice to bridge the gap between the body of research on improving services for children with emotional and behavioral problems, and the actual practice of serving them.

Project

Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP)

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs was formed in 2008 to enhance collaboration among 19 federal departments/agencies to improve outcomes for youth.
Project

Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health (TA Partnership)

The TA Partnership provides technical assistance to state, regional, and county system of care communities currently funded to operate the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program, including those that have juvenile justice-involved youth as a population of focus.

mother and two children
8 Jul 2010
Report

Service and Housing Interventions for Families in Transition (SHIFT) Study - Final Report

A study of long-term outcomes for families entering shelters and other housing programs found that more than half still didn’t have stable residences after 30 months.
1 Sep 2008
Report

Eighth Grade: First Findings From the Final Round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K)

This First Look used data collected from the final round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) when most of the cohort was in the eighth grade. This project was intended to provide a snapshot of the eighth-grade round of the ECLS-K and make the data available to encourage more in-depth analysis using more sophisticated statistical methods.

18 Jul 2008
Presentation

Implementing an Evidenced Based Treatment for Children in the Child Welfare System: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

This presentation focused on the use of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) as an evidence-based treatment for children involved with the child welfare system and their families.

16 Jul 2008
Presentation

Child and Family Services Reviews: Addressing Mental Health Needs of Children and Families in Child Welfare

This presentation reviewed findings from Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) in relation to the provision of mental health services for children involved with the child welfare system and their families.

4 Mar 2008
Presentation

Making It a Reality: Parents as Partners in Child Welfare

This presentation focused on the use of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) as an evidence-based treatment for children involved with the child welfare system and their families.

29 Aug 2007
Report

Child and Family Services Reviews 2001-2004: A Mental Health Analysis

This analysis describes mental health challenges faced by children and families in the child welfare system and trends across states in addressing those issues. The analysis is based on the first round of state CFSR reports and Program Improvement Plans.