Chronic neglect refers to cases that are reported to child protection repeatedly. Our recent webinar speaker Dee Wilson estimates that it accounts for 1/5 to 1/3 of child protection cases nationally.
Chronic neglect includes a breakdown of parental norms, for example by leaving pre-school children alone for hours or days at a time. Frequently it is accompanied by deep poverty and spirals into physical and sexual abuse.
In this article Wilson states that once chronic neglect takes hold, therapy and other interventions are ineffective. So the appropriate response is intervening early with financial supports and services to restore parental functioning.
However today’s adult-focused policies encourage workers to treat each maltreatment report separately and ignore the overall pattern. This, combined with political pressures to limit the role of child protection, presages a future where children are purposefully consigned to chronic neglect.
Join Rich for a full analysis in this week’s podcast, here or wherever you hear you favorite podcast shows.
Read the full transcript of the podcast here.
Good news in Texas this morning. Dallas and Dallas County will be allotting millions for a newborn nurse home visit program. They will pay for up to 3 visits for families with new babies. This program is evidence-based and keeps babies alive.