Infographic: Every Kid Needs a Family

Every Kid Needs a Family    Kids do best with the support of a loving family. As our child welfare system develops strategies to help our most vulnerable children, it has a number of opportunities to provide kids with supportive families.  One is to help families that are living in precarious circumstances by providing the supports they need to care for their children in a safe and stable environment.  When a child does need to be removed from her immediate family, she can be placed with a grandparent or other member of the extended family (called kinship care). Finally, the state can seek to recruit more foster parents who can provide good homes to children who would otherwise have to live in group homes or other institutional settings. Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success, released today by the national partner of MassBudget's KIDS COUNT project, explores strategies for providing more children in the foster care system with the opportunity to grow up in a family.  The progress on these issues in Massachusetts, and the continuing challenges, are described in MassBudget's recent report Family Ties: Exploring Massachusetts's use of Kinship Foster Care for Children in the Child Welfare System and a related report by KIDS COUNT Advisory Council member the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute: The Ties That Bind: Strengthening, and Reducing Racial Disparities in, Kinship Foster Care in Massachusetts. The infographic below shows that Massachusetts is below the national average in giving children who are in the child welfare system the opportunity to live with members of their extended family.  This contributes to more kids leaving the system (aging-out) without the support of a permanent family. And unfortunately, when kids age-out without this support they are less likely to finish high school and more likely to end up homeless or even in jail.   The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget: What helps low-income parents succeed in the workforce

How can the state help low-income parents succeed in the workforce? Two decades ago Massachusetts and the US adopted reforms aimed at shifting our welfare programs towards supporting work. The goal was to help more low income parents to get and keep jobs that pay enough to support a family. To accomplish this, the state would shift funding away from cash assistance and towards important work supports like child care and job training. Since parents with young children can't leave their kids home alone when they go to work, they need access to affordable early education and care for their kids. Those programs also play a very important role in preparing young children for success in school, and in life. Many low income parents also need access to job training and education programs to develop the skills they need to reach their potential. And those who can't afford a car need access to reliable public transportation to be able to get to work. While Massachusetts increased investments in some of these areas immediately after the welfare reforms of the mid-1990s, there have been deep cuts and chronic underfunding since then. Funding for child care is down 24% since 2001 and funding for the Employment Support Program, which provides job training and related supports for low income parents has been cut 78% since 2001. Our public transportation system has been chronically unable to make the investments needed to ensure reliability, as has become painfully clear in recent weeks. Declines in Support for Low Income Working Parents, provides an overview of what the state has and has not been doing to provide the support low income parents need to succeed in the workforce. Funding for the TANF Program in Massachusetts provides greater detail on the history of funding of funding for these programs. Massachusetts has taken important steps to improve the wages and working conditions of low wage workers by significantly increasing the state minimum wage and by protecting the ability of workers who are too sick to work to be able to take a sick day without being fired. Our Commonwealth could build on that progress by providing low income parents with the job training, child care, and reliable transportation they need to succeed in the workforce. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget: New Infographic - Economic Opportunity and Child Poverty in MA

Economic Opportunity and Child Poverty in MA: What's Working and How We Could Do Better The number of children living in poverty in Massachusetts would be twice as high if low income families did not receive help from effective anti-poverty programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps), WIC nutrition programs, and the Child Tax Credit. Together these programs help lift 1 in 7 children in Massachusetts out of poverty. Yet, another 1 in 7 children still live in poverty in Massachusetts. These findings are detailed in a study released today, Measuring Access to Opportunity in the United States, by the Annie E. Casey Foundation's national KIDS COUNT project of which MassBudget's KIDS COUNT project is the state affiliate.  To provide an overview of what's working, what's holding back progress, and how to fix what's broken, MassBudget created the infographic below. For a more in-depth discussions of these issues, see our reports and resources on expanding economic opportunity, support for kids, jobs and the economy, education, and taxes.     The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget: From Poverty to Opportunity

From Poverty to Opportunity: The Challenge of Building a Great Society Fifty years ago economic growth in America was leading to rising wages across the income spectrum and progress towards broadly shared prosperity. In that context the nation launched a series of Great Society initiatives to expand opportunity to those who were still being left behind - and to improve the lives of all Americans. Over that decade poverty in America declined substantially, from 22% of the population to 14%. But, beginning in the 1970s, our economy changed and wages stopped growing with the economy. The gap between the very wealthy and everyone else began to grow, and poverty has increased. MassBudget's new report From Poverty to Opportunity: The Challenge of Building a Great Society traces how the economic and policy changes since the launch of the Great Society have affected the lives of people at all income levels in Massachusetts. This report is being released in conjunction with the Massachusetts Association for Community Action's (MASSCAP) convening: Joining Together: Ending Poverty Now.  While we see real success from a number of programs, including SNAP (Food Stamps) and the Earned Income Tax Credit that are lifting hundreds of thousands of people above the poverty threshold, far too many children remain poor or near poor. In the years since wages for low and middle income workers stopped growing with the economy poverty and child poverty have increased in Massachusetts. Poverty puts children at risk for poor health outcomes, higher risk for dropping out of school, and a greater likelihood of a lifetime of poverty. And when children don't have the opportunity to reach their full potential we undermine the long term strength of our economy. To read the report, please click HERE. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Kids Count: Two New Reports on Kinship Foster Care

PLACING KIDS WITH EXTENDED FAMILY HELPS THEM THRIVE When children need to be removed from their families due to concerns of abuse or neglect, they have a greater opportunity to succeed and thrive if they are placed with members of their extended family, rather than with people they don't know. Children who are placed with members of their extended family (their "kin") experience less disruption and trauma upon removal from their parents, and benefit from continued connections with their family, their cultural and linguistic heritage and their community. They also benefit from greater stability as those placed with kin are more likely to remain in one foster care placement, and they have a greater chance of finding a permanent home. MassBudget's new Kids Count analysis, "Family Ties: Exploring Massachusetts' use of Kinship Forster Care for Children in the Child Welfare System," is a companion to the Mass Law Reform Institute's (MLRI) release of a new Kids Count report. MassBudget finds that the state has made real progress over the past seven years, increasing kinship foster care rates from 20 percent to 28 percent for kids removed from their homes. But Massachusetts lags behind other states that have been able to place greater number of children, particularly children of color, with members of their extended families. MLRI's new KIDS COUNT report, "The Ties That Bind: Strengthening, and Reducing Racial Disparities in, Kinship Foster Care in Massachusetts" describes the evidence on the value of kin placements and examines the policies the state has been using to increase the number of kids placed with kin. It concludes by providing a detailed set of commonsense solutions to help the Department of Children and Families increase kinship care overall and make sure that that all children, regardless of their race or ethnicity, have the same chance to overcome trauma and thrive. The report also incorporates data from MassBudget's analysis that describes the trends in kinship placements overall and for children from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The Ties that Bind makes the following recommendations for DCF: appoint a kinship care coordinator, implement a presumption in favor of kinship care, review its licensing standards in light of national model standards designed to promote kinship care while keeping children safe, get kin involved as soon as DCF becomes involved with a family, ensure that kinship foster parents are able to access all the state supports to which they are entitled, and build bridges into communities where kin live. The report also recognizes that DCF must collect and use data about the outcomes of these and other practice and policy changes. This is important to ensure that policies and practices are having their intended effect of increasing kinship care and promoting placement stability and permanent homes for children. As with any public investments, it will be important for DCF to demonstrate the effectiveness of efforts on this issue. That will require data demonstrating how many children are helped and how those children life prospects are improved. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

. Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget: Safe Time Policies for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence

Earned Paid Sick Time and Safe Time Provisions: Supporting Survivors of Violence and Abuse To protect their physical and economic security, survivors of domestic and sexual violence sometimes need to take time off from work to address health and safety issues. A growing number of earned paid sick time laws in several cities and states give employees the right to take time off when needed. MassBudget's new fact sheet "Earned Paid Sick Time and Safe Time Provisions: Supporting Survivors of Violence and Abuse," examines safe time provisions and their implications on survivors of violence and abuse. To read the fact sheet please click HERE.   The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108