Child Protection &

Government Programs
August 31, 2015
CAST 301

A Very Brief Overview of

Systems Theory
• System - a set of elements that are interrelated
to make a functional whole

Child

Micro-Level System
• Micro-Level System - refers to an individual or
family.

• Micro Orientation - focuses on an individual’s

needs, problems, and strengths. It also might
address issues, generate solutions, and make the
best, most effective, choices possible.

• Micro practice involves working with an individual

and enhancing that person’s functioning.
Examples include providing individual or family
therapy and working as a case manager.
 Macro-Level System
• Macro-Level System – a system larger than a small
group.

• A macro orientation focuses on the social, political,

and economic conditions and policies that affect
people’s overall access to resources and quality of life.

• Macro practice involves striving to improve the social

and economic context in which people live. Examples
include working to impact policies and legislation;
promoting social and economic justice; and providing
community-level responses to abused children.

What do we owe our

children?

Child Poverty
• 20.7 % of Illinois children living in poverty in 2013
• 11% of White children
• 45% of African-American children
• 29% of Latino children
• 35% of Chicago kids living in poverty in 2012
• Nationally, 52% of kids in poverty are white
• 60% of the children of immigrant parents are
living in poverty compared to 37% of children
living with native-born parents.
 Part I:
Government Programs

TANF - Temporary Assistance for

Needy Families
• Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) - 1996
• 92% decline in number of caseloads in Illinois from
December 1994 to December 2012.
• In 2013, 38,150 children received TANF on average each
month, but 600,000 children lived below the poverty
line. Why?
• Average benefit - $432 monthly for family with two
children, less than 30% of the federal poverty level
• Total Cost in Illinois - $81 million

Social Security Benefits

• Available to children of disabled workers,

deceased workers, and retired workers

• 156,900 in Illinois (August 2010); average

benefit - $581/month

• SSI - Supplemental Security Income -

maximum benefit - $733/month (2015)
 Food Stamps/SNAP -
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

• 890,000 Illinois children received SNAP in ’13

• 49% of all SNAP participants are children
• Available to people with incomes up to 130% of
poverty level ($1265/month for one person)
• Average benefit in 2013 - $138/month/person
• Maximum benefit - $511/month for 3-person
household
• Total cost in Illinois - $3.4 billion

Tax Credits
• EITC - Earned Income Tax Credit - 1 million
Illinoisans received it for tax year 2012; average
- $2338/person

• The EITC moved an estimated 130,000

Illinois children above the poverty level in 2013

• Total cost in Illinois - $2.45 billion for tax year

2012

WIC
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, & Children

• Federal nutrition program for infants and

children under age 5 as well as pregnant,
postpartum, and breastfeeding women

• Approximately 40% of Illinois babies qualify

for WIC
 Healthcare
• Only 3.4% of Illinois kids are uninsured
• Medicaid & Children’s Health Insurance
Program (CHIP)

• All Kids in Illinois - comprehensive insurance

available for those who don’t qualify for other
programs. Sliding scale - monthly premiums &
copays vary

• 1.6 million children in Illinois receive All Kids

• $3 billion (for children only)

CCAP - Child Care

Assistance Program
• Previously available for those within 185% of
federal poverty level

• Beginning July 1, 2015 - only available for new

families who receive TANF, a teen parent
enrolled full-time in school, families with a
special needs child, or a working family making
less than 50% of the federal poverty level
($664/month).

Part II:
Safety & Child Protective
Services (CPS)
 The Beginning of Child
Protection
• 1875 - New York Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to
Children

• 1962 - “Battered Child

Syndrome” - Dr. C. Henry
Kempe

CAPTA - Child Abuse

Prevention & Treatment Act

• 1974 - CAPTA - Authorized federal funds to

improve state response to child abuse and
neglect

• Helped create national CPS

Adoption Assistance & Child

Welfare Act
• 1980 - focused on family preservation
• States must make “reasonable efforts” to avoid
removing children from maltreating families

• Permanency plans
 ASFA - Adoption & Safe
Families Act
• 1997 - move towards child safety as top priority
• Timelines for children in foster care -
termination or reuniting families