American child welfare system falling short due to persistent child poverty: report

CANBERRA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The child welfare system in the United States is failing to meet all the children's need because of overwhelming demand, said a report on Australian news website The Conversation.

According to the article by Astraea Augsberger, assistant professor of social work at Boston University and Mary Elizabeth Collins, professor of social welfare policy at Boston University, researchers found that 37 percent of the children in the United States, including 53 percent of African American children, experienced a child protective services investigation by the time they turn 18.

"The authorities receive reports on more than three million of the nation's 74 million children under 18 every year for suspected child abuse or neglect, with the government determining about 620,000 to be victims," it said.

The authors pointed out that child neglect which accounts for 76 percent of the victims is prevalent. It is seen as a "direct reflection of poverty in cases in which parents cannot afford to maintain a home, buy food or pay for essential utilities like power and water."

The burdens of chronic poverty could also exacerbate other factors such as mental health conditions, substance use, domestic violence and criminal justice involvement, resulting in maltreatment of children in complex ways. However, the support from government is far from enough, the report said.

The article found that only one-fifth of the American families with children below poverty line benefit from the main social welfare program, namely the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

With its benefits varying in different states, the program saw declining spending with at least 40 percent reduced since its establishment in 1996, the report said.

Citing Columbia University researchers, it noted that an estimated 17 percent of U.S. children lived in poverty in February 2022.

Some child welfare policies actually make life even harder for parents and children, said the authors, who gave an example of the authorities' sending children to foster care while charging parents for the cost, saying that the practice happening in every state could obstruct and delay family reunification.

The authors called for restoring a monthly payment approach and boosting federal funding for child care so as to help the families.