Chapin Hall

Webinar on the role of economic and concrete supports in child maltreatment prevention slated for noon CST, Tuesday Nov. 8 

A Chapin Hall webinar at noon Central, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 explored the role of economic and concrete supports in preventing child welfare system involvement. Senior Policy Fellow Clare Anderson and Senior Policy Analyst Yasmin Grewal-Kok gave a fast-paced and broad overview of evidence about the connection between family economic stability and child maltreatment prevention.  

“Chapin Hall is committed to using rigorous analytics – alongside the voices of those with lived experience – to drive systems toward policies and practices that support families in their lives,”  said Chapin Hall Executive Director Bryan Samuels, who will introduce the webinar. “The evidence on the connection between economic and concrete supports and family well-being is extensive. This webinar will provide the field a quick overview of that evidence—evidence that has enormous potential for driving equity.”  

The webinar will provide a review of multiple studies that indicate that economic and concrete supports are protective factors—factors that prevent families from becoming involved in the child welfare system and that prevent child maltreatment. Some highlights of this research include:  

• Each additional $1,000 that states spend on public benefit programs annually per person living in poverty is associated with a reduction in child maltreatment reports, substantiated child maltreatment, foster care placements, and child fatalities due to maltreatment.  

• Between 2013 and 2016, neglect referrals to child protective services decreased in states that expanded Medicaid and increased in states that did not expand Medicaid. 
• A recent study found that states with more generous SNAP policies experienced large reductions in CPS reports; fewer substantiated reports, particularly for neglect; and fewer foster care placements, compared to states with less generous SNAP policies. 

• States with state-level refundable EITC compared to those without had 11% fewer entries into foster care, even after controlling for poverty, race, education and unemployment.  

For more about this body of work and for full citations for all of the above research, see A Key Connection: Economic Stability and Family Well-being. On that page, you can download an extensive deck that summarizes the research, and a one-pager that provides a quick overview. The webinar will close with a vision for the way forward.  

Watch the recording of Child and Family Well-Being System: Economic & Concrete Supports as a Core Component webinar on Nov. 8.