This article traces the ways that playfulness shifts and grows with the child and with the parent-child dyad. It also speaks to the paradoxical manner in which feeling essential as a parent is both necessary at the beginning of the … Read More
Child Well-Being
Supporting a Positive Racial Identity for Black, Indigenous, and Other Children of Color in Transracial Placements with White Parents
Part 1: Setting the stage This guide is designed to help parent group leaders facilitate discussions with their groups about their responsibilities as they parent children of color. These discussions will specifically help white parents and caregivers understand their critical … Read More
Supporting the School Readiness and Success of Young African American Boys Project: Reflections on a Culturally Responsive Strength-Based Approach
The Office of Head Start (OHS) is committed to programming that reflects culturally responsive, strength-based practices for ALL children birth to five and their families. Quality programming in Head Start and other early childhood programs incorporates knowledge of and respect … Read More
When Forced Marriage and Human Trafficking Intersect
What is Forced Marriage? Forced marriage occurs when one or both parties do not or cannot give consent to be married and in which there is force, fraud, or coercion. This coercion can manifest as physical, emotional, psychological, cultural, or … Read More
Rethinking Protection: Raising the Bar on Legal & Economic Protections for Survivors & Children
The legal structure that undergirds child welfare creates challenges to the safety and well-being of survivors of domestic violence and their children. Mandatory reporting creates a vast surveillance system of low-income children and families, who are disproportionately Black and Indigenous … Read More
An Approach to Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting in Cases of Questionable Confessions
Introduction The hypothetical case introduces the complex ethical and legal implications of physicians as mandatory reporters when treating patients with mental illness. When a patient with reality challenges (e.g., psychosis, mania, or delirium) endorses having sexual contact with minors, how … Read More
Rethinking Protection: Innovating to Advance Safety, Well-being, and Justice
Child welfare system responses to families experiencing domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment are based largely on the premise that children need to be rescued from the parent(s) who have “failed to protect” them. This understanding of the problem justifies … Read More
Rethinking Protection: Keeping Domestic Violence Survivors Out of Child Welfare
In many states, mandated reporters are trained to report any and all concerns about a child’s exposure to domestic violence (DV) to the child protection system. Even in states where reporters have somewhat more discretion, child protection systems accept large … Read More
Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Handling of Tips of Hands-on Sex Offenses Against Children
Introduction In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on the Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA … Read More
SNAP Benefits to Change in October: Here’s Who’s Impacted
SNAP recipients need to prepare for some major changes this month. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits low-income Americans and helps them access healthy foods each month. Specific SNAP maximum allotments, deductions and income eligibility change each year in line with the beginning of the … Read More