Description: Putting the child back in child welfaree
Putting the child back in child welfaree
In the public testimony on the CFSA budget, there were pleas from several speakers to increase funding for home visiting programs funded by CFSA. So I did a little digging to determine how the current funds are being spent, and what I found was rather shocking. In Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), CFSA handed over $330,000 to the DC Department of Health, to serve a grand total of 33 families, of whom only 16 completed the program. The agency spent another $360,000 to serve an unknown number of families in home visit
First some context. Home visiting is not a program, but rather a service delivery strategy that can be used in many different programs. There are many, many home visiting program models with different goals, services, staffing, and target populations. According to the website of the DC Home Visiting Council, the District currently offers 16 home visiting programs, each with different goals and supporting different needs. There is evidence supporting the impact of some of these programs on certain outcomes,