Child Welfare Policy & News

This letter is  a revised sign-on letter to Congress re: COVID-19 relief

“Racism is real and must be eliminated. Police brutality is real and must be eliminated. Oppressive policing is real and must be eliminated. NASW stands against racism, police brutality and oppressive policing,” said Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, Chief Executive Officer of NASW.

Suicide rates among 10-19 years old youth was the second leading cause of death in 2017 according to data from the National Vital Statistics System. Overall, rates for youth aged 10-14 declined between 2000-2007 before tripling between 2007-2017. The rates of completed suicide among Black youth are increasing faster than any other racial or ethnic group.

A society must be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—and most valuable—members: its children. The State of America’s Children 2020 makes it abundantly clear that by this measure, America is falling shamefully short. Within this report you will find stories, statistics, data and trends that show in the clearest terms how we are failing our children.

For years our country has not lived up to its promise to its children, and as we enter a new decade, the situation for many children is only growing more dire. And as we reach a critical turning point in 2020, when children of color will become the majority of children in America, we are failing these children worst of all.

Karen Zilberstein is a psychotherapist and author of "Parents Under Pressure: Struggling to Raise Children in an Unequal America." She's also clinical director of the Northampton, Mass., chapter of A Home Within, a national non-profit devoted to providing pro bono therapy to foster care youth and alumni.

Martha Gonzalez-Cortes is Senior Vice President of Community Investment at Kalamazoo Community Foundation in Michigan. She has a deep working knowledge of immigration policy issues, and a passion for finding systemic solutions to challenges faced by immigrant and refugee families.