Policy Strategies to Address Child Maltreatment (2024-2025)

This project team, in partnership with the Children’s Health & Discovery Initiative and the Center for Child & Family Policy, is examining how policy innovations can help prevent child maltreatment and improve conditions in foster care. Building on the work of a previous team, members are reviewing existing evidence and interviewing experts at local and state levels across select U.S. regions to understand how Family First Prevention Services Act funds are used for prevention efforts. The team’s work also focuses on identifying gaps in support for foster families in North Carolina, with particular attention to healthcare continuity, educational stability and the needs of kinship caregivers.

Using qualitative methods such as content analysis, the team is identifying themes from stakeholder interviews to inform actionable policy recommendations. By disseminating findings through a manuscript, policy brief and presentations to policymakers, leaders and service providers, the team aims to strengthen the intersection of health, social services and policy. The ultimate goal is to equip decision-makers, including those in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, with evidence-based strategies that improve outcomes for foster children and bolster the families who care for them.

Timing

Summer 2024 – Summer 2025

Team Outputs

Qualitative data from interviews to inform policy recommendations

Policy Strategies for Enhancing Supports for Foster Families (Poster presentation at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025)

See earlier related team, Policy Strategies for Child Maltreatment Prevention (2023-2024).