discussion

Reflect & Discuss

What Needs to Change?

The traditional child welfare system in the United States has historically focused on responding to abuse and neglect after harm has occurred. Reports are investigated, families are monitored, and in many cases children are removed. While safety is essential, this approach often intervenes too late and does not adequately address root causes such as poverty, caregiver stress, substance misuse, housing instability, and lack of social support (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [HHS], 2023).

To move toward prevention, several key changes are necessary:

1. Shift Funding Upstream
2. Currently, a large portion of funding supports foster care and investigations rather than primary prevention. A prevention-focused system would invest in home visiting programs, early childhood education, parenting education, and concrete supports (Casey Family Programs, 2021).
3. Adopt a Public Health Framework
4. The public health model emphasizes primary (before harm), secondary (early risk), and tertiary (after harm) prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) promotes strengthening economic supports, enhancing parenting skills, and building community norms that protect children as strategies to prevent maltreatment before it occurs.
5. Center Protective Factors
6. The Center for the Study of Social Policy (2018) outlines five protective factors: parental resilience, social connections, concrete supports, knowledge of parenting and child development, and childrens social-emotional competence. A prevention-focused system would intentionally build these factors into services.
7. Use Brain Science to Guide Practice
8. Research from Harvard University Center on the Developing Child (2021) shows that toxic stress without supportive relationships can impair brain development. Ensuring that children form at least one stable, nurturing attachment reduces long-term negative outcomes. Prevention efforts must therefore prioritize strengthening caregiver-child relationships.
9. Address Structural Inequities
10. A prevention model must acknowledge systemic racism and economic inequality, which disproportionately impact families involved in child welfare. Policies that improve access to housing, healthcare, childcare, and livable wages are essential components of prevention (Drake et al., 2020).

What Would a Prevention-Focused System Look Like?

A prevention-focused system would:

• Provide voluntary, community-based supports before CPS involvement
• Integrate services across healthcare, education, mental health, and social services
• Offer universal supports (e.g., paid family leave, childcare subsidies)
• Embed trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices
• Measure success by family stability and well-beingnot just reduced reports

Key stakeholders would include:

• Child welfare agencies
• Healthcare providers (pediatricians, OB/GYNs)
• Early childhood educators
• Community-based organizations
• Faith-based institutions
• Policymakers
• Families and youth with lived experience

Prevention must be community-owned and collaborative rather than agency-driven alone.

Apply

As a social worker, applying this knowledge means:

• Screening for stressors early and connecting families to concrete supports before crises escalate.
• Using trauma-informed care principles that prioritize safety, empowerment, and collaboration.
• Strengthening caregiver-child attachment through psychoeducation and modeling nurturing interactions.
• Advocating for policy change, such as expanded home visiting programs or housing supports.
• Partnering with schools and community organizations to identify families needing support early.

Rather than asking, What went wrong? a prevention mindset asks, What does this family need to thrive?

Ask

After this module, I am left with several important questions:

• How can states reallocate funding toward prevention when federal reimbursement structures still prioritize foster care placement?
• What accountability measures ensure prevention services are equitable and culturally responsive?
• How do we balance voluntary prevention services with mandated reporting laws?

These questions highlight that prevention requires not only programmatic change but systemic reform.

References

Casey Family Programs. (2021). How can we prioritize prevention?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Preventing child abuse and neglect: Technical package for policy, norm, and programmatic activities.

Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2018). Strengthening families protective factors framework.

Drake, B., Lee, S. M., & Jonson-Reid, M. (2020). Poverty and child maltreatment: A nuanced understanding. Future of Children, 30(1), 2140.

Harvard University Center on the Developing Child. (2021). Toxic stress and the developing brain.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2023). Child welfare outcomes report.

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). What is APA style?

https://familyfirstact.org/about-law