Reframing Child Well-being in Policy & Practice

1. Unpacking Child Well-being Fred Wulczyn, Ph.D.In These Troubled Times:A Fresh Approach to Vulnerable Children in High-Risk FamiliesUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMay 8, 2009

2. Objectives • How important is the issue? • Are there recent examples that illustrate the problems? • Unpack well-being • Focus on education - how are foster children doing? • Provide legislative background • Difficult problem to solve - • Provide a framework for moving forward

3. Unpacking Child Well-being • Well-being is a naturally appealing idea, but there are difficulties integrating the idea into policy and practice • No clear definition of well-being • Skill set is different • No knowledge base within child welfare • No mechanism for decision support • Interventions that improve well-being are difficult to find • Skill set is different • Public policy does not provide a framework • Adoption and Safe Families Act • Outcome measures are not adjusted • No information routinely gathered

4. Main threads of the policy problem • An outline of child and family policy in the U.S. • Parental rights in the United States • Parental rights as a fundamental right • Parents and the failure to provide • Title IV of the Social Security Act • Relatives as legal strangers • The two-step test

5. Where’s the rub? • Child protection fits neatly within a tradition that examines children from the view of parental fitness • Child well-being does not fit well within this framework • Modern developmental theory recognizes a myriad of influences including the neighborhood, the schools, genetics - all of these are out of the direct control of parents.

6. Reframing the problem Safety Well-being Permanency Safety Well-being Permanency Health Health Education Education Behavioral Health Behavioral Health

7. Why focus on education? • Children in the child welfare system are at risk for poor educational outcome: risks • Young mothers, low education levels • 40% domestic violence • 21 percent say there are serious problems in the neighborhood • 40% substance abuse • 40% poor parenting skills

8. Why focus on education? • Developmental status • At baseline: • 53% of infants are high risk for developmental problems (14 percent in a normative sample) • At 38 months: • Preschool language scores are low - 35% • 23% have low cognitive scores. • Foster children are more likely to be old for grade • Foster children start school behind - being in care does not close the gap

9. Why focus on education? • Foster children are less likely to finish school • Dropout rate that is 50% greater than non foster children • Incarceration rates that 3.5 times greater

10. Legislative background • ASFA • Establish a framework for monitoring outcomes in the child welfare system • Parallels NCLB • Language doesn’t mention well-being

11. A difficult policy and practice problem • What affects well-being? • The impact of foster care in a life course perspective • How much of childhood is spent in foster care • Once a child is placed in foster care, how much

12. Growing up in foster care • On average, time spent in foster care accounts for a bit more than 20% of childhood, among children who enter care early. • Older children spend a greater share of what’s left of their childhood in foster care. For example, among children who enter care as 13 year olds, on average 42 percent of the time between admission and turning 18 will be spent in foster care. Foster Care in the Context of Childhood

13. A modest proposal • How shall we think about well-being? • Human capital - a combination of ability, education, and life experiences

14. A modest proposal • How do we hold public child welfare agencies accountable? • Process of care • Quality of care • Outcomes