Kids raised in safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are more likely to enjoy good physical and mental health and succeed academically and socially.
We know that when families have what they need, when they need it, in their own communities, without stigma before they find themselves in crisis – we can begin to imagine a Commonwealth where all parents are supported and a world where child abuse and neglect can be prevented.
Prevention services and supports, such as the child tax credit, are critical for families and communities. Ensuring that families have sufficient resources to meet their needs, buffer against economic shocks, and avoid more intrusive engagement with child protective services is possible when economic and concrete supports, including the Child Tax Credit, are in place.
CTC as a Prevention Strategy
When strategies to build protective factors are available to families, such as access to high-quality childcare, economic support, and family-friendly workplace policies, the incidence of child abuse and neglect can be dramatically reduced, particularly in the face of key risk factors.
These policies have a ripple effect – lowering the risk of abuse and neglect among children, keeping families together, and preventing unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system, which is costly and often further traumatizing for children and their families.
Economic supports including tax strategies like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit can be instrumental in preventing child abuse and neglect and involvement with child welfare:
o Research shows that for every additional $1,000 per person in poverty that states spent on benefit programs, such as housing and childcare assistance and refundable Earned Income Tax Credit, per person living in poverty, there was a 4% reduction in child abuse and neglect reports, a 2% reduction in foster care placements and about an 8% reduction in abuse-related child fatalities. (Puls)
o EITC and CTC payments are associated with immediate reductions in state-level child maltreatment reports, each additional $1,000 in per-child EITC and CTC refunds is associated with a decline in state-level child maltreatment reports of: 2.3% in the week of payment and 7.7% in the 4 weeks after payment (Kovski)
The compounded economic burdens that many families today face and the preponderance of evidence we now have, create an urgency for advancing economic and concrete supports as a key child abuse and neglect prevention strategy at the state level.
Kids raised in safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are more likely to enjoy good physical and mental health and succeed academically and socially. We know that when families have what they need, when they need it, in their own communities, without stigma before they find themselves in crisis – we can begin to imagine a Commonwealth where all parents are supported and a world where child abuse and neglect can be prevented. Prevention services and supports, such as the child tax credit, are critical for families and communities. Ensuring that families have sufficient resources to meet their needs, buffer against economic shocks, and avoid more intrusive engagement with child protective services is possible when economic and concrete supports, including the Child Tax Credit, are in place. CTC as a Prevention Strategy When strategies to build protective factors are available to families, such as access to high-quality childcare, economic support, and family-friendly workplace policies, the incidence of child abuse and neglect can be dramatically reduced, particularly in the face of key risk factors. These policies have a ripple effect – lowering the risk of abuse and neglect among children, keeping families together, and preventing unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system, which is costly and often further traumatizing for children and their families. Economic supports including tax strategies like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit can be instrumental in preventing child abuse and neglect and involvement with child welfare: o Research shows that for every additional $1,000 per person in poverty that states spent on benefit programs, such as housing and childcare assistance and refundable Earned Income Tax Credit, per person living in poverty, there was a 4% reduction in child abuse and neglect reports, a 2% reduction in foster care placements and about an 8% reduction in abuse-related child fatalities. (Puls) o EITC and CTC payments are associated with immediate reductions in state-level child maltreatment reports, each additional $1,000 in per-child EITC and CTC refunds is associated with a decline in state-level child maltreatment reports of: 2.3% in the week of payment and 7.7% in the 4 weeks after payment (Kovski) The compounded economic burdens that many families today face and the preponderance of evidence we now have, create an urgency for advancing economic and concrete supports as a key child abuse and neglect prevention strategy at the state level.