We’re always very careful to say that poverty doesn’t cause child neglect and abuse. And we don’t want to conflate these things or have people think that we’re blaming people for being poor. Yet we do know that poverty—particularly chronic and extreme poverty—can create an environment in which neglect and child maltreatment can thrive. Given that connection, could investments in anti-poverty programs actually reduce child maltreatment?

This is a key question, especially given that rates of neglect have only seen modest reductions in the U.S. over the past 40 years. And it was what Dr. Hank Puls, professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, set out to research.  Are we missing an opportunity to not only reduce poverty but also the suffering that comes from child maltreatment when we don’t invest heavily enough in these programs?

Topics in this episode:

• A pediatrician determined to reduce child abuse (1:55)
• State anti-poverty programs (3:24)
• Costs and benefits (11:00)
• Advocacy, and inequities (29:01)
• What do child advocates need? (38:04)
• Share this episode with a friend (45:52)

Links:

Hank T. Puls, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

“State Spending on Public Benefit Programs and Child Maltreatment,” Henry T. Puls, Matthew Hall, James D. Anderst, Tami Gurley, James Perrin, Paul J. Chung. Pediatrics November 2021; 148 (5): e2021050685. 10.1542/peds.2021-050685

A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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