Advancing a prevention-oriented support system for the health and safety of children

Abstract

Child welfare and child protection systems are entrenched institutionally and their value stances on working with marginalized groups are, at times, antithetical to the value framework of public health approaches. Differences are sufficiently wide as to render these child welfare systems incapable of advancing a robust prevention agenda focused on child safety and well-being. In this article, we argue for institutionally distinct, yet cooperative approaches focused on universal and secondary-level family and community supports, aimed at breaking down silos and shifting our attention from child welfare reform to community-based systems that are better positioned to proactively meet the needs of children and families before they find themselves in crisis. Within the article, we focus on key tensions and arguments for separate yet cooperative approaches across systems and organizational silos, including the divide between preventive and responsive frameworks, the capacity constraints on existing–reactive–child welfare systems, and shifting the dial to population-wide prevention strategies to address the growing awareness that child maltreatment is a far wider problem than indicated by the number of children reported to child welfare agencies.