Host: Luke Waldo 

Experts: Clare Anderson – Senior Policy Fellow – Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

:00-:19 – Clare Anderson – “When families have access to sufficient economic and concrete supports through a variety of mechanisms, the risk for involvement with child welfare goes down.” 

:20-5:10 – Luke Waldo – Introduction to Economic Stability and Clare Anderson 

• Family and Child Well-being System: Economic and Concrete Supports as a Core Component – Clare Anderson et al – Chapin Hall
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• The Role of TANF in Economic Stability and Family Well-being and Child Safety - Clare Anderson et al – Chapin Hall

5:11-5:41 – Clare Anderson – Opening statement and gratitude.

5:42-6:22 – Luke – How has your work evolved from one of child and family well-being through a trauma and evidence-based intervention focus to an economic and concrete supports focus?

6:23-8:59– Clare – Early experience as a social worker in a hospital to the Obama administration in the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF), from clinical work to more upstream macro and policy work, there has always been a need to follow the evidence. The evidence has evolved over time, so Clare’s thinking has followed it.

• ACYF Well-being Framework

9:00-9:27 – Luke – What did the evidence from the past few years around economic and concrete supports tell you about its intersection with child neglect?

9:28-11:55 - Clare – A few studies on living wage and child welfare involvement, Medicaid and child welfare involvement made her stop and think, “Really?” This led to the research that has been around for decades that show a strong correlation between access to economic and concrete supports and a reduction in child welfare involvement, and conversely, sudden economic shock like job loss and an increase in child welfare involvement.

11:56-12:35 – Luke – What are the underlying root causes of neglect?

12:36-15:19 - Clare – The evidence shows us that economic and concrete supports have an impact on child abuse and neglect. The lack of those supports create stressors at the individual, family, community and societal level. When we move from a Family Stress Model to a Family Investment Model, we create the bandwidth for caregivers to nurture and meet the basic needs of their children.

• Family Stress Model – National Institutes of Health 
• Family Investment Model – National Institutes of Health
• System Transformation to Support Child & Family Well-Being: The Central Role of Economic & Concrete Supports – Chapin Hall Policy Brief

15:20-16:26 – Luke – Why do families that have economic stability not show up in the child welfare system?

16:27-20:21 - Clare – “Volatility on the edge of scarcity creates additional risk.” When you can buffer those risks through economic stability, then child maltreatment is less likely. Disparities between White and Black families - $180,000 and $24,000 net worth – are still disturbing. 

We have mental models in this country that lead many to ignore the reality that many working families are susceptible to economic shock like the loss of a job, no access to paid family leave after the birth of a child, or a healthcare crisis that may lead to poverty. 

20:22-21:05 - Luke – What are the benefits and risks of economic programs such as Women, Infant, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid?

21:06-24:29 - Clare – Medicaid expansion in states led to a reduction in child welfare involvement, especially screened-in reports for children under the age of 6. Conversely, they increased in states where Medicaid was not expanded. States with more generous SNAP and WIC benefits saw fewer reports, substantiations and family separation. 

• Family and Child Well-being System: Economic and Concrete Supports as a Core Component – Clare Anderson et al – Chapin Hall

24:30-25:18 - Luke – Do these programs see themselves as part of the child maltreatment prevention system?

25:19-29:03 - Clare – If they are successful, then they keep the most intrusive systems from entering families’ lives. DHHS has convened a learning community of TANF and child welfare leaders to explore these questions. States are expanding Medicaid which prioritizes Social Determinants of Health to be able to pay for things like housing, food, and transportation. We can push out a lot more research that helps us reorient our approach to getting families what they need where they need it.

• “Families Are Stronger Together: TANF & Child Welfare Partnering for Prevention Learning Community (FAST-LC)”

29:04-29:36 - Luke – This information hopefully provides a roadmap for our state as to how we can bring system actors together to support families more effectively.

29:37-30:57 - Clare – We now have different language and thinking within child welfare that might advance new partnerships that inspire accountability to and responsibility for prevention.

30:58-33:12 - Luke – What are the challenges facing families when it comes to accessing these economic and concrete supports?

• Matthew Desmond – Evicted and Poverty, By America

33:13-35:19 - Clare – How might our systems take more responsibility to make things more accessible, remove barriers, and collaborate more effectively with other systems to ensure eligible families receive what they need?

35:20-37:43 - Luke – Story about Washington’s new law and how it leads to systems coordination questions as to how we ensure overloaded families are receiving the support that is available to them.

• Washington’s Keeping Families Together Act

37:44-38:24 - Luke – How might we more effectively translate the research and evidence that you’ve shared today into practical strategies?

38:25-44:37 - Clare –We need a whole different operationalization of our systems collaboration than we’ve had in the past. Are we assessing families for the right things like the potential of economic shock? “Five or six years ago, I was not animated by universal childcare policy. I am now.” 

Before CAPTA, the Comprehensive Child Development Act was vetoed which would have provided universal childcare to families. Policy was then influenced by the Battered Child Syndrome approach to our work, which led to a more intrusive child welfare system. Narrow our definitions of neglect and invest in differential response approaches such as Vermont.

• Comprehensive Child Development Act
• Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA)
• “The U.S. Almost Had Universal Childcare 50 Years Ago. The Same Attacks Might Kill It Today” – Time Magazine

44:38-46:17 - Luke – What are the policies and practices that show the most promise for keeping families together?

46:18-48:32 - Clare – Childcare, housing, access to healthcare and continuity in benefits, tax credits that create buffers, and reducing employment volatility all support families. States need to use data effectively to inform their strategies specific to their families’ needs and local context. 

48:33-48:47 - Luke – What makes you optimistic about the future of this work?

48:48-50:45 - Clare – “I am extraordinarily optimistic.” Systems, states, organizations, and communities are as animated by this shift in thinking as I am, and we are already seeing real progress being made. We are seeing shifts towards Mandated Supporters rather than Mandated Reporters with an understanding that support requires concrete solutions rather than nebulous responses. 

50:46-52:39 - Luke – Gratitude and Closing

52:40-53:14 - Clare – Gratitude for all the researchers and families that have led to this conversation and shift in thinking.

53:15-53:19 – Luke – Final Gratitude

53:33-55:10 - Luke – 3 Key Takeaways

55:11-56:38 – Luke – Closing Credits

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