- Email: [email protected]
Other resources and competing programs
34
Kamerman
and Kahn
Other Resources and Competing Programs The programs summarized do not constitute the entire domain of child and family social services, although convention has made them the core. The post World War II period, and especially the last several decades, have seen a few important categorical initiatives in other systems as well as in the public social services which are not necessarily located in the traditional child welfare stream. Here, too, one is made aware of possibilities and challenges for the future. The central point is simple, but it introduces a number of possibilities. Child abuse, neglect, dependency, all bring children to public attention because of allegations about their circumstances or about what has been done to them. These self-same children, looked at in other institutions (schools, for example), or from other perspectives (developmental status), or with regard to recent behavior (in courts, for example) may also meet the specifications for various categorical services and/or treatments. Indeed, there is documentation of the fact that it may be chance, time, or stage which determines where the child is noticed or dealt with. Child welfare authorities, depending upon state or county, may be drawing upon, coordinating with, or failing entirely to consider, important resources and programs in other systems. The Developmental
Disabilities
Program.
The Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act specifies the obligations of state and federal government to establish a protection and advocacy system stressing the right to services and treatment in the least restricfive appropriate setting. There are both state formula grants and discretionary funds aimed at improving and inventorying services and training personnel. There is a mandate for early The state has a intervention, diagnosis/evaluation, and counseling. The appropriations for basic state number of administrative options. grants were $56.5 million in FY 1987 and $58.4 million in FY 1988. Programs for Handicapped
Children.
A variety of permanently authorized programs at all educational levels, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, have different impacts depending upon how programs are developed by the various states and how they are related to the treatment needs of abused, neglected, dependent, and disturbed children. Total appropriations had reached $1.7 billion by FY 1987 and increased modestly in FY 1988. Especially
Perspectives
and Dimensions
35
relevant here is the Education for All Handicapped Children legislation of 1975 (P.L. 94-142). The state grant program, to pay for excess COSTS associated with educating a handicapped child, require an individualized education plan for each child, multi-disciplinary evaluation and planning, active parental involvement in the planning. Special services for handicapped 3-5s (most unusual in the absence of federal aid for normal 3-5s) may expend up to $1,000 per child by FY 1990 and such services must be mandated by states by 199 1. A new program, intended to be even more family focused, now also opens such opportunity for infants and toddlers, from birth to age 2, to ensure early identification and intervention (Special Education for Infants and Toddlers, P.L. 99-457). Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (and subsequent amendments) is administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice and combines Emphasis is placed on diversion formula grants and special programs. alternatives to from the juvenile justice system, community-based incarceration, programs to strengthen families. The core programs spent $70.2 million in FY 1987 and another $4 million went to a Missing Children’s Program. These programs have resulted in shifting boundaries between delinquents and status offenders (difficult children not accused of what would be crimes if committed by adults), the arrival of significant numbers of adolescents in the social service network for service, placement, or protection, and some cooperation with regard to residential Some abused/neglected children have been known to be resources. adjudicated as delinquent as a result of non-cooperation and defiance during the protective process. Adolescent Family Life Authorized under the Public Health Act this demonstration program attempts to prevent pregnancy and to serve pregnant adolescents, adolescent parents and their families. Its wide range of prevention, treatment and care arrangements may include counseling, child care, education/training, mental health and medical care, usually in cooperation with other services. These programs may or may not be related to the agencies or units dealing with family and child welfare. The FY 1987 appropriation was $14 million.
36
Kamerman and Kahn
Welfare Reform andYoung Parents The various educational, training, job search programs initiated in the states over the past decade and now to be expanded and sharpened under the late 1988 reform legislation (P.L. 100-485, The Family Support Act of 1988) constitutes in most states a separate system unrelated to social services for families and children. Nonetheless, the very substantial representation of AFDC clients in the abuse/neglect caseloads constitutes inevitable overlap and opportunity for reinforcement and enrichment. The issue is whether this has been or will be grasped. Mental Health Services There is no targeted federal mental health program offering significant aid to the states for child mental health treatment. The important federal community mental health program (and its stress on children in its phase-out years) is gone, folded into a block grant. State programs may stress residential treatment, often an important resource for some children in the child and family social service network, as we shall see. There is generally a shortage of funds for and limited provision of out-patient child mental health services. Some states have been increasing their appropriations and developing further plans, however. A special program, now operating on a modest basis at sites in 40 states, is seeking to improve the meshing of child mental health and other services in situations calling for multi-system collaborations (Child and Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP} under the National Institute for Mental Health). Other A full listing of possible state programs for children and families, dependent on appropriations, grants, and state policy might also include Head Start, Medicaid, the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Block Grant, a Community Health Centers program, Indian Health Service, Migrant Health, a Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant, and some aspects of recently developed programs for the homeless. Needless to say these programs are not often at the call of those who administer child and family social services, are not all dedicated to children, and are frequently assigned other priorities within the respective states. Nonetheless, they are within the possible planning horizon of top state leadership, as it considers the delivery of social services for children, youth, and families.
Kamerman
and Kahn
Other Resources and Competing Programs The programs summarized do not constitute the entire domain of child and family social services, although convention has made them the core. The post World War II period, and especially the last several decades, have seen a few important categorical initiatives in other systems as well as in the public social services which are not necessarily located in the traditional child welfare stream. Here, too, one is made aware of possibilities and challenges for the future. The central point is simple, but it introduces a number of possibilities. Child abuse, neglect, dependency, all bring children to public attention because of allegations about their circumstances or about what has been done to them. These self-same children, looked at in other institutions (schools, for example), or from other perspectives (developmental status), or with regard to recent behavior (in courts, for example) may also meet the specifications for various categorical services and/or treatments. Indeed, there is documentation of the fact that it may be chance, time, or stage which determines where the child is noticed or dealt with. Child welfare authorities, depending upon state or county, may be drawing upon, coordinating with, or failing entirely to consider, important resources and programs in other systems. The Developmental
Disabilities
Program.
The Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act specifies the obligations of state and federal government to establish a protection and advocacy system stressing the right to services and treatment in the least restricfive appropriate setting. There are both state formula grants and discretionary funds aimed at improving and inventorying services and training personnel. There is a mandate for early The state has a intervention, diagnosis/evaluation, and counseling. The appropriations for basic state number of administrative options. grants were $56.5 million in FY 1987 and $58.4 million in FY 1988. Programs for Handicapped
Children.
A variety of permanently authorized programs at all educational levels, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, have different impacts depending upon how programs are developed by the various states and how they are related to the treatment needs of abused, neglected, dependent, and disturbed children. Total appropriations had reached $1.7 billion by FY 1987 and increased modestly in FY 1988. Especially
Perspectives
and Dimensions
35
relevant here is the Education for All Handicapped Children legislation of 1975 (P.L. 94-142). The state grant program, to pay for excess COSTS associated with educating a handicapped child, require an individualized education plan for each child, multi-disciplinary evaluation and planning, active parental involvement in the planning. Special services for handicapped 3-5s (most unusual in the absence of federal aid for normal 3-5s) may expend up to $1,000 per child by FY 1990 and such services must be mandated by states by 199 1. A new program, intended to be even more family focused, now also opens such opportunity for infants and toddlers, from birth to age 2, to ensure early identification and intervention (Special Education for Infants and Toddlers, P.L. 99-457). Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (and subsequent amendments) is administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice and combines Emphasis is placed on diversion formula grants and special programs. alternatives to from the juvenile justice system, community-based incarceration, programs to strengthen families. The core programs spent $70.2 million in FY 1987 and another $4 million went to a Missing Children’s Program. These programs have resulted in shifting boundaries between delinquents and status offenders (difficult children not accused of what would be crimes if committed by adults), the arrival of significant numbers of adolescents in the social service network for service, placement, or protection, and some cooperation with regard to residential Some abused/neglected children have been known to be resources. adjudicated as delinquent as a result of non-cooperation and defiance during the protective process. Adolescent Family Life Authorized under the Public Health Act this demonstration program attempts to prevent pregnancy and to serve pregnant adolescents, adolescent parents and their families. Its wide range of prevention, treatment and care arrangements may include counseling, child care, education/training, mental health and medical care, usually in cooperation with other services. These programs may or may not be related to the agencies or units dealing with family and child welfare. The FY 1987 appropriation was $14 million.
36
Kamerman and Kahn
Welfare Reform andYoung Parents The various educational, training, job search programs initiated in the states over the past decade and now to be expanded and sharpened under the late 1988 reform legislation (P.L. 100-485, The Family Support Act of 1988) constitutes in most states a separate system unrelated to social services for families and children. Nonetheless, the very substantial representation of AFDC clients in the abuse/neglect caseloads constitutes inevitable overlap and opportunity for reinforcement and enrichment. The issue is whether this has been or will be grasped. Mental Health Services There is no targeted federal mental health program offering significant aid to the states for child mental health treatment. The important federal community mental health program (and its stress on children in its phase-out years) is gone, folded into a block grant. State programs may stress residential treatment, often an important resource for some children in the child and family social service network, as we shall see. There is generally a shortage of funds for and limited provision of out-patient child mental health services. Some states have been increasing their appropriations and developing further plans, however. A special program, now operating on a modest basis at sites in 40 states, is seeking to improve the meshing of child mental health and other services in situations calling for multi-system collaborations (Child and Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP} under the National Institute for Mental Health). Other A full listing of possible state programs for children and families, dependent on appropriations, grants, and state policy might also include Head Start, Medicaid, the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Block Grant, a Community Health Centers program, Indian Health Service, Migrant Health, a Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant, and some aspects of recently developed programs for the homeless. Needless to say these programs are not often at the call of those who administer child and family social services, are not all dedicated to children, and are frequently assigned other priorities within the respective states. Nonetheless, they are within the possible planning horizon of top state leadership, as it considers the delivery of social services for children, youth, and families.