Economic and concrete supports can help families meet their basic needs, alleviating stress and promoting well-being. They include supports such as housing programs, food assistance, child care, and other economic assistance.
Poverty is not the same as neglect, and most families experiencing poverty do not neglect their children. However, those families are overrepresented in the population of people reported to child protective services. Providing economic and concrete supports to families—many of whom may also be affected by overpolicing or oversurveillance—can reduce the risk of family separation or help them reunify if separation already occurred.
Creating policies that facilitate connecting families to supports tailored to their unique needs and identifying potential bias within procedures and practice is essential. Additionally, families should be centrally involved in decision-making, including when determining which supports they need. Child welfare professionals should be aware of cultural differences and implicit biases when making decisions with families about supports.
Families may need assistance overcoming certain obstacles, including those rooted in historical and systemic racism or locality-based challenges (e.g., availability of supports in rural areas). Collaboration among agencies and communities can help families overcome these barriers.
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Economic and Concrete Supports Are Key Ingredients in Programs Designed to Prevent Child Welfare Involvement
Read a brief summarizing and synthesizing the available literature on how economic and concrete supports affect prevention in child welfare. This resource also identifies key program and policy implications.
What Is Concrete Support?
Defines concrete support and discusses how building family strengths can help parents overcome stress and challenges that can lead to cases of child abuse and neglect.
Concrete Support in Times of Need: Protective & Promotive Factors
Discusses the importance of helping parents identify, find, and receive concrete support to ensure their families will thrive. This strengths-based approach helps parents feel valued because they are acknowledged as knowledgeable and competent.
System Transformation to Support Child & Family Well-Being: The Central Role of Economic & Concrete Supports
Examine how a system of surveillance was created instead of one of support. Also find policy, programmatic, analytic, and engagement strategies for using economic supports to promote strengthening and stabilizing families and preventing maltreatment.
Evidence to Impact: State Policy Options to Increase Access to Economic & Concrete Supports as a Child Welfare Prevention Strategy
Explore examples of State policy options for economic and concrete supports as well as peer-reviewed research that examines the effect of these policies on reducing risk for child welfare involvement.
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Find experts who can confidentially connect families with housing, food, and other resources in their local communities.