Children's Services

A City Seeks to Undo a Legacy of Trauma

A Baltimore law requires agencies that interact with children and families to receive training in trauma-informed care. It's changing how the city engages with residents, with a greater emphasis on healing rather than hardline policies.

  • By Daniela Altimari

States Offer Supplemental Wages to Retain Child Care Workers

COMMENTARY | Ensuring eligible employees enroll to receive the pay benefit can be a challenge. New research offers three strategies that can help.

  • By Michelle Maier, JoAnn Hsueh and Cynthia Miller

A Historic Child Care Investment Saved Centers From Collapse. What Happens When the Money Runs Out?

One year after the passage of the American Rescue Plan, child care centers said the money has stabilized the industry after near collapse. But advocates worry about what will happen once the money runs out.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

About 1 in 3 Child Care Workers Are Going Hungry

Child care workers are at the center of the food insecurity crisis in America. In 2020, nearly one-third of them were food insecure.

  • By Colin Page McGinnis  , The Conversation

How State and Local Leaders Can Bolster a Core American Ideal

COMMENTARY | Programs focused on preventing childhood trauma could go a long way towards delivering on the idea that the "pursuit of happiness" is an unalienable right.

  • By John M. Bernard

The Federal Government Spent Record Amounts of Money on Children Last Year. It Probably Won’t Last.

Spending on children—including tax programs, education, nutrition and social services—by state and local governments also will likely fall back to pre-pandemic levels within several years as Covid-19 relief measures expire, according to an Urban Institute report.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The Cost for States to Expand Free Pre-K Under the Biden Plan

The Build Back Better proposal provides money for free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. States are required to contribute a percentage and will likely incur costs for workforce development, pay increases and adjusting elementary school curriculum.

  • By Andrea Noble

State Spending on Anti-poverty Programs Could Substantially Reduce Child Abuse and Neglect

Public investments in benefit programs could save tens of thousands of children from being victims of child abuse and have important later-life effects on child welfare and overall health.

  • By Henry T. Puls  and Paul J. Chu, The Conversation

Two States Now Offer Free In-home Nurse Visits for New Parents

The visits, offered in Oregon and now New Jersey, include a health and wellness check for both the baby and the parents, an effort to improve maternal mortality rates and boost family well-being.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

How One State Plans to Use Federal Relief Money to Shore Up Child Care Options

Montana will leverage more than $31 million to establish grants for child care centers to increase pay, expand capacity and offset tuition rates.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Enrollment in Health Insurance Lags Among Latino Children

States with restrictive Medicaid rules have the lowest insurance rates.

  • By Michael Ollove, Stateline

The Best and Worst States for Child Well-Being

Massachusetts took the top spot in the KIDS COUNT Data Book, an annual survey from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, while Mississippi ranked 50th.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram
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Summer Camps Haven’t Fully Recovered. That Could Hurt Working Moms.

Without a full return of summer programs this year, working moms face months of uncertainty that could further splinter their relationship with the workforce.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

Child Tax Credits were Expanded to the Poorest Families for the First Time. Most of them Still Can’t Get the Money

The historic expansion of the child tax credit this year could slash child poverty in half, but only if the poorest families can access it. Reaching them is a massive task the country has never taken on.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

The Keys to Fixing Child Care are Now in the Hands of States. They May not be Ready for the Task

Biden’s American Rescue Plan allocated $39 billion for child care — a historic infusion. But states are relying on small staffs, old systems and a short timeline to get the money out equitably.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

Some States Update Child Neglect Laws to Allow 'Reasonable Independence' For Kids

A handful of states have clarified neglect laws to allow parents to permit their children to walk to school and play outside alone without fear of intervention from police or Child Protective Services.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Only Some Parents Can Use Campaign Funds for Child Care When Running for Office. Here’s Why.

A new report highlights the financial barriers to parents of young children running for state and local office.

  • By Barbara Rodriguez, The 19th

One State’s Plan to Ease the ‘Invisible’ Diaper Gap for Families

A third of families nationwide experience diaper need, regardless of age, race or income, data shows. Washington state will allocate funding for diaper banks in its latest budget to help close that gap.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

A Simple Approach to Ending Extreme Poverty

COMMENTARY | Buried deep in the latest pandemic stimulus package is a transformative idea for helping families.

  • By H. Luke Shaefer and Kathryn J. Edin, The Atlantic

Child Care Benefits at Work: This App Helps your Employer Pay Your Family and Friends for Babysitting

Helpr, one of the fastest growing apps offering backup child care, is behind new legislation in California that would require big employers to give their workers subsidized backup care.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

A Roadmap to Rebuilding an Early Childhood System of Care

COMMENTARY | The pandemic has exposed the need to fundamentally reshape early childhood care systems.

  • By Cynthia Osborne