[20220418]IF10590_儿童福利：目的、联邦计划和资金.pdf

https:/crsreports.congress.gov Updated April 18, 2022Child Welfare: Purposes, Federal Programs, and FundingThe Work of Child Welfare Agencies Children depend on adultsusually their parentsto protect and support them. The broadest mission of public child welfare agencies is to strengthen families so that children can depend on their parents to provide them with a safe and loving home. More specifically, child welfare agencies work to prevent abuse or neglect of children by their parents/caregivers. If abuse or neglect has already happened, the agencies are expected to provide aid, services, or referrals as needed to ensure children do not re-experience maltreatment. For some children, this means placement in foster care. Foster care is understood to be a temporary living situation. The first task of a child welfare agency is to provide services to enable children to safely reunite with their families. If that is not possible, then the agency works to find a new permanent family for the child via adoption or guardianship. Youth in care who are neither reunited nor placed with a new permanent family are typically emancipated at their states legal age of majority. These youth are said