Education

Lack of Funding Said To Hamper Services for Troubled Children

April 18, 1990 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Washington--Due to a lack of funding, critical services for troubled children and families are not widely available in most states, a study by the American Public Welfare Association concludes .

And even when available, the report adds, the services--including foster care, drug-addiction treatment, and respite care--are stretched to the breaking point by rising demand.

The a.p.w.a.'s National Commission on Child Welfare and Family Preservation, which includes state and local human-services directors and public child-welfare administrators, conducted the survey. The findings were presented this month in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee’s subcommittee on human resources.

The survey included findings that:

  • Only 23 states have statewide drug-treatment programs for children, and only 25 have statewide programs for parents. Three states have no drug-treatment programs for children at all.
  • Only 17 states offer intensive home-based services for troubled families statewide. Thirty-four offer services in some localities, and one has no such services available.
  • Respite services to provide temporary relief to a parent or caretaker are available statewide in only 14 states, available in some localities in 264states, and unavailable in 9 states.

John F. White Jr., secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and a member of the a.p.w.a.'s National Council of State Human Service Administrators, urged the panel to push for more federal aid for child-welfare services.

‘A Severe Crisis’

Although the states, which now fund nearly 60 percent of child-welfare expenditures, “have made strides in increasing staff, improving training, developing new programs and technologies,” Mr. White said, “we remain seriously understaffed and unable to provide the type of services to families and children that we know will work.”

A dramatic growth in the number of children needing foster care has left the child-welfare system facing “a severe crisis,” Mr. White added, noting that New York has seen a 66.3 percent increase in the child foster-care population in two years.

Staffing is also a problem. Thirty-two of 36 responding states said they have been unable to fill all authorized slots for direct-service workers, largely because of budget constraints, a lack of qualified candidates, and high staff turnover. The average salary for entry-level direct-service workers in the study ranged from $17,344 to $24,882.--p.s.

A version of this article appeared in the April 18, 1990 edition of Education Week as Lack of Funding Said To Hamper Services for Troubled Children

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read