On Jan. 14, President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris unveiled their American Rescue Plan. This proposal has a price tag of $1.9 trillion and aims to build off of some of the investments in the end-of-the year package that became law in late December. This initial proposal did not include legislative language, so some details still aren’t clear. Ultimately, it will be up to the new Congress to review and pass legislation. They will likely put their own stamp on it, with some changes and additions of other programs and funding. The biggest obstacle to passage will be the United States Senate, which has a 50-50 split, with a tie-breaking vote by VP-Elect Harris. Senate Democrats are considering a process, called budget reconciliation, that would allow them to pass such a bill with a simple majority. We anticipate the process of passing this bill will take several weeks or months, with no guarantees.

Some of the key provisions impacting our network include:

There are many other provisions to review in the below summary. The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities and the Council on Accreditation will continue to fight for additional relief funds for state and local government, loans, and grants for nonprofits of all sizes (including those with more than 500 employees), an increase in the FMAP Medicaid match, and other key priorities in as this process unfolds in early 2021.

State/Local Aid

Financial Relief for Nonprofits

Hazard Pay

Minimum Wage

Paid Leave

Child Tax Credit

Child Care

Earned Income TaxCredit (EITC)

School Funding 

Nutrition Assistance

Direct Payments (Stimulus Checks) 

Unemployment Insurance

Rental and Housing Assistance 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Behavioral Health

Healthcare Coverage

Community Health Worker Workforce

Regina Dyton

By Regina Dyton

Since the nation witnessed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of members of law enforcement, it has been hard to contain the sorrow and  anger. As he called out for his deceased mother, he spoke to every mother across this nation who has struggled to keep her child safe. As a Black mother of an incarcerated son, I am tired and scared to stand witness to yet another generation of children and grandchildren who must learn to navigate the racial prejudices that infuse our systems. 

And, while it is clear that this issue extends far beyond law enforcement, any dialogue about how we move forward must acknowledge the fact that systemic racism across all of our systems is interconnected and interwoven.

What child of an African American mother hasn’t heard the phrase: “I’m beating you now so the cops don’t kill you later.” Too many Black and brown parents believe that teaching our children compliance without question can save our sons from being taken from us by police through imprisonment, permanent injury, disability or outright murder, like the knee to the neck that took George Floyd. “That boy better learn to listen!” 

It is with anguish and desperation that we seek to impart submission into our children early on. In doing so, we prepare our children for servitude while others prepare their children for leadership.   

A 2015 Pew Research survey found that Black parents are more than twice as likely as white and Latino parents to use corporal punishment on a regular basis. Many believe it is a tradition that has its roots in slavery, with enslaved Black mothers and fathers preferring to beat their child rather than allow the slave owner and his overseers to beat them. I find it appalling, but understandable on some level, that descendants of one of the cruelest examples of slavery in world history would pass the beatings on. 

This is clearly also one of the root causes for the disparities we see in the child welfare system. There is no question that racial bias exists in Child Protection Services. A parent of color is more likely to be reported for abuse or neglect, that report is more likely to be substantiated, and that child more likely to enter the foster care system.

In fact, according to The Imprint’s Foster Care Capacity website, while African Americans make up 9.8% of the population in Connecticut, they represent 22.5% of the population of youth in foster care. 

Once in that system, that child is more likely to be exposed to situations and environments leading him to trouble with the juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system is too often a road to the adult criminal justice system. Every step on that road is life threatening. 

Challenging the negative definitions and images we have been given of ourselves and working to heal internalized racism is one critical step to reducing the number of children of color fed into child protective services.

That is one of the key goals of the St Francis Hospital and Medical Center/Trinity Health of New England’s participation in the Child Safety Forward initiative. Funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Child Safety Forward is a demonstration initiative across five sites to develop multidisciplinary strategies and responses to address fatalities or near-death injuries as a result of child abuse and neglect. Our site is primarily focused across the Hartford, Connecticut, region.

The challenges we face include socioeconomic conditions across our region that include poverty, racially segregated communities, and inadequacies in data collection and reporting that have led to a reactionary rather than proactive approaches to child safety. Ultimately, we hope to utilize a population health approach to reduce the rate of repeated child injuries and fatalities in Hartford, which is currently two times the national average.

The effort will include a collaborative approach involving grassroots neighborhood organizations, caregivers, health professionals, researchers, foundations, state agencies and others to eliminate health disparities in communities served by St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. And, it will include a conversation across communities about the systemic racism that impacts families of color and how we can engage all voices and all lived experiences to bridge the gaps and disparities that have resulted.

These issues may not be solved overnight. But I am encouraged that the dialogue is real, that the voices speaking out are loud are multi-cultural and united in the call for change.

For every Black mother of a newborn who, like me, whispered into my baby’s ear, “I will not lose you to the police, I will not lose you to prison, I will not lose you to the law enforcement system,” know you are heard.

Child abuse and neglect is not inevitable. It is our responsibility as a society to tackle these hard issues and ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow up in an America that represents equity, inclusion, diversity and most of all, hope.

Regina S. Dyton is director of community health and well-being for Trinity Health of New England and project director of the Child Safety Forward Initiative in Connecticut. This article originally appeared in The Imprint on Dec. 6, 2020.

Within Our Reach released a new report today entitled “Transforming Child Welfare Systems to a 21st Century Model that Strengthens and Supports Families and Communities: Innovations from the Field,” authored by Teri Covington, former director of the Within Our Reach office and funded through support from Casey Family Programs (CFP).

Within Our Reach is an office of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities that was established to further the recommendations of the federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF). In a 2016 report, the commission called for fundamental reforms in the child welfare system including: “A comprehensive public health approach premised on the importance of strong, integrated, and collective responsibility and coordinated action and measurement across agencies and states and within our communities.”

Significant progress has been made in the four years since the commission’s report toward transforming child welfare into 21st century child and family well-being systems that focus on preventing child abuse and neglect and strengthening families. 

Over the past several years, a number of convenings have taken place featuring transformational leaders across the child welfare ecosystem. Organized by CFP, in partnership with the U.S. Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Association for State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), these convenings have helped coalesce leaders around a common vision and an improved understanding of a public health approach to child welfare.

This recently released report provides a framework and description of a prevention-aligned, public health approach to child welfare and provides some examples of innovations states and communities are implementing in their efforts to become a 21st century model of child welfare. Many of these innovations are based on the recommendations of CECANF and the frameworks being developed through the CFP convenings.

Some of the examples of community and state efforts towards a more family-supportive, public health approach to child welfare include: 1) Establishment of a network of Family Resource Centers (FRCs) in San Francisco, CA that provide a community-based resource hub for families needing to access formal and informal supports that promote health and well-being; 2) A Maricopa County, AZ effort to establish the Safe Babies Court Team™ approach first developed by the national organization, Zero to Three, that transforms child welfare into the practice of child “well-being” by using the science of early childhood development; 3) The Housing Opportunities Made to Enhance Stability (HOMES) initiative in Milwaukee, WI, which promotes stable, healthy, and affordable homes that provide a foundation for well-being and prosperity for children, families and communities.

Access the full report.