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Youth, High School Dropouts More Likely to be Idle The Carsey Institute is becoming a leading national center for policy research on youth, working families, and sustainable development in small cities and rural communities. Online
Analytical Statistical Information System
A recent Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) study concludes that the costs of the prison system are likely to continue on an unsustainable path unless policymakers focus on differentiating between non-violent offenders and serious violent, sexual, and habitual offenders. The study, "Tough on Crime and the Budget: The Difficult Balancing Act of Public Safety and Skyrocketing Prison Costs," highlights the growth of the Department of Corrections budget, factors that are driving the growth, and policy options for addressing future growth. National
Youth Development Information Center Georgia
Healthy Families Visit
Georgia Healthy Families. Read current and past Child Advocate columns.
Tune in to "Speaking for America's Children."
Media Madness is a unique and innovative blend of media literacy and health education that teaches teens life-long lessons about standing up for themselves and limiting how much influence others have over their sexual attitudes and actions. Free Media Madness training and materials are available to help youth and parents in Georgia. Learn how you can receive free materials.
"Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States," by Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) and "Time for Reform: Investing in Prevention, Keeping Children Safe At Home," by Kids Are Waiting (KAW), a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, show that while the economic costs associated with child abuse and neglect rose to $103.8 billion in 2007, merely ten percent of federal money dedicated for child welfare, approximately $741.9 million, can be used to prevent child abuse and neglect from occurring by strengthening families. The PCAA report documents pervasive and long-lasting effects of child abuse on children, their families, and society as a whole. The $103.8 billion cost of child abuse and neglect includes more than $33 billion in direct costs for foster care services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law enforcement. Indirect costs of over $70 billion include loss of productivity, as well as expenditures related to chronic health problems, special education, and the criminal justice system. The KAW report finds that the current federal child welfare financing structure does not adequately support services and supports that could help keep more children safely with their families. The report shows that the majority of dedicated federal funding for child welfare is reserved for placing and maintaining children in foster care and cannot be used for prevention or reunification services or supports. States may access dollars under Title IV-E, the principal source of federal child welfare funding, only after children have been removed from their home and enter foster care. Of the $7.2 billion federal funds dedicated for child welfare in 2007, approximately 90 percent supported children in foster care placements ($4.5 billion) and children adopted from foster care ($2.0 billion). States can use about 10 percent of federal dedicated child welfare funds flexibly for family services and supports, including prevention or reunification services. The report recommends specific policy options to keep children safe and strengthen families: • Ensure a sufficient, flexible and reliable federal resource to help support the continuum of services needed by at-risk children and families. • Reward states for safely reducing the number of children in foster care and achieving all forms of permanence. • Make all abused and neglected children eligible for federal foster care support. Read "Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States," by PCAA (Word doc.). Read
"Time for Reform: Investing in Prevention, Keeping Children
Safe At Home," by KAW (PDF). |
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