Public Policy Archives - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
New Study of Pediatric Mental Health Boarding
March 22, 2025 | NWI
A new study examines pre- and post-COVID trends in mental health (MH) boarding for pediatric patients seen at US children’s hospitals and to identify demographic and other features associated with prolonged boarding. MH boarding is when a child or youth comes to an emergency room in crisis and needs inpatient psychiatric care, but no beds are available. They may need to await care either in the ER itself or in a medical inpatient unit.
Access to Medicaid and Healthcare Promotes Child Safety
March 22, 2025 | NWI
The central role of economic hardship as a driver of child welfare system involvement underscores the importance of addressing the concrete needs of families and promoting economic stability. In addition to income poverty, material hardship is a consistent predictor of child protective services contact, above and beyond family characteristics. Access to Medicaid and healthcare for children and their families, specifically, is associated with reduced risk for child welfare system involvement.
A New Chapter in America’s Child Welfare System
February 23, 2025 | NWI
At the end of last year, Congress passed the largest overhaul of the nation’s child welfare system in more than 15 years. The reform includes more support for kinship care, aging out youth and efforts to prevent the separation of families due to poverty. This panel discussion looks at how these reforms will make a difference for children and families in the U.S.
Foster Care’s Downward Trend
February 23, 2025 | NWI
Data from various sources shows a steady decline in the number of children and youth in foster care. This article highlights reports on legislative, policy and advocacy efforts aimed at preventing the use of foster care in as many child welfare cases as possible.
What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons?
February 23, 2025 | NWI
Between 2000 and 2020, the number of young people incarcerated in the United States declined by an astonishing 77 percent. Over the same time period, arrest rates and serious violent crimes by juveniles fell equally dramatically. What lessons can be drawn from this 20-year experiment and quiet triumph of public policy?
Parental Consent Rules May Hinder Teen Mental Health Treatment
January 13, 2025 | NWI
Teens living in states requiring parent consent for mental health treatment may be less likely to access care, according to a Northwestern Medicine-led study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Preventing Infant and Toddler Maltreatment: A Toolkit
December 7, 2024 | NWI
This toolkit aims to facilitate collaboration among state-level policymakers, agency leaders, administrators, and other partners to pinpoint the connections between policies that promote family well-being and those that prevent child maltreatment. The resources in this toolkit are intended to inform and encourage dialogue, collaboration, and action among state leaders responsible for promoting positive outcomes among children, families, and communities in their states.
State Policies Linked to Reduced Child Maltreatment and Neglect
November 2, 2024 | NWI
New research finds that state child tax credits, higher minimum wage, access to contraception and broader eligibility for food stamps are linked to reduced maltreatment and neglect of children under age 3.
Children and Youth Resilience Challenge Winners
July 28, 2024 | NWI
Children and Youth Resilience Challenge Winners
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the winners of the HHS Children and Youth Resilience Challenge, a $1 million federal prize competition to identify and elevate promising, community-based initiatives that improve psychological resilience and advance child and youth behavioral health.
Spring 2024 Updates to the Family First Clearinghouse
June 16, 2024 | NWI
This Spring, the clearinghouse that greenlights foster care prevention services approved one new program that states can finance by drawing down federal funds aimed at lessening the use of foster care, rejected nine others, and announced 16 new programs up for consideration.