The Change Mariner

The Cure for Child Abuse is Prevention

Mercury News:

Julie Serrano is on the front lines in the war against child abuse in San Jose, but she's lost her most potent weapon because the nation's outdated child welfare system won't pay for it.

Study after study shows that the only cure for child abuse is prevention -- stopping the cycle in which abused children grow up to become abusive adults. When Serrano began teaching parenting classes for new immigrants in East San Jose, child abuse reports in the area dropped in half.

"They didn't understand that in this country, it's against the law to hit a child," Serrano said. "We'd show them the difference between abuse and correction."

When the county places fewer children in foster care, it saves taxpayers money. So one would think the federal government, which spends $5 billion a year to keep kids in foster care, would gladly foot the bill for parenting classes and other money-saving preventive programs. Wrong. Under the current law, federal entitlement money doesn't kick in until the kids are in the system. So Santa Clara County had to pay for the parenting classes, and when the statewide budget crunch hit, it canceled them.

The Bush administration is trying to reform the foster care system. It has been pressuring states to shift the focus away from removing kids from their homes and toward strengthening families so they can stay together.

Posted by Jennifer King at April 4, 2004 05:47 PM | TrackBack
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