CDC Estimates Child Abuse and Neglect Costs: According to a recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study, the total lifetime estimated financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect) is approximately $124 billion. In FY 2008, state and county child protective services (CPS) agencies received more than 3 million reports of children being abused or neglected-about 6 complaints per minute, every day. An estimated 772,000 children were classified by CPS authorities as being maltreated and 1,740 children aged 0 to 17 died from abuse and neglect in 2008. The study may be accessed here.
2012 Poverty Guidelines Released: HHS has released the new 2012 poverty guidelines. For a family of three, the official poverty level is $19,090 and $11,170 for a family of one.
New Study Answers Long-Standing Question: How Many California Inmates Were in Foster Care?: A new study by the California Senate Office of Research tries to answer a long-standing question: what percentage of California prison inmates were in foster care? In national coverage of the issue, figures have ranged widely. This study is the first to systematically survey California inmates. Of the 2,564 adult California prisoners surveyed in June 2008, only 14 percent of them reported that they had been in foster care at some point in their lives.
For some, this figure may seem low. That's because a more commonly cited statistic is the percentage of youth who age out of foster care and enter the criminal justice system, not the percentage of incarcerated individuals who were ever in foster care. Findings from the study suggest that the first five years after leaving foster care are important ones in terms of preventing incarceration. Forty percent of respondents reported that they had been incarcerated within five years of leaving foster care.
Homelessness Employment Models: The National Transitional Jobs Network launched the Working to End Homelessness Initiative in 2011. The initiative focused on the important role of employment solutions in addressing homelessness and to identify and disseminate promising employment practices. NTJN convened over 20 workforce development professionals in 16 states that operate a diverse set of employment models including transitional jobs, supported employment, social enterprise, work readiness training and alternative staffing. From those efforts a series of best practices emerged. Click here to access those briefs.
