America's emphasis on welfare: Is it children's welfare or corporate welfare?

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, Jul-Sep 2003 by Raphael, Sally

Are you aware that, according to the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Action Council (2003):

* Each day in America, three children are killed as a result of abuse or neglect, 183 are arrested for violent crimes, 1,455 babies are born without health insurance, 2,811 high school students drop out, and 7,611 are reported abused or neglected?

* Among industrialized countries with respect to investing in and protecting children, America ranks:

a. 12th in living standards among our poorest one fifth of children

b. 14th in efforts to lift children out of poverty

c. 19th in percentage of children in poverty

d. 23rd in infant mortality

e. Last in protecting our children against gun violence?

* The United States has the highest inmate population in the world-more than China, whose population is four times greater?

* The prison population in Texas exceeds the total undergraduate enrollment of the University of Texas system?

* The average pay of the CEOs of the 501 biggest U.S. corporations was $9.6 million in 2002? The average compensation for a CEO of $15.5 million could pay the salaries of more than 900 child-care workers for a year.

These are tough economic times when it comes to our national budget. Yet, some believe that the current budget proposals are drastically shortchanging our neediest cohort-the children and their families. The Bush administration proposes new tax cuts on top of the $1.3 trillion tax cut enacted in 2001. Bush's 2004 proposed budget includes a new round of tax cuts of $1.3 trillion (House, 2003) over the next 10 years. The provisions will give the top 1% of Americans an average of $30,000 each. And those in the bottom fifth of taxpayers will get $6.

* Every 4 minutes a child is arrested for drug abuse, and every 2 hours a child or youth is killed by a firearm. Have we become desensitized by the numbers? How do we wrap our arms around numbers such as 1 in 5, or every 3 hours, when we speak of the plight of children and youth?

A new program, Child Watch Visitation Program, by the Children's Defense Fund helps put passion with numbers and action within caring communities. The ultimate goal in every area is to improve the lives of children by promoting action on local, state, and national levels. Projects are operating across the country in Los Angeles; Tampa, FL; Washington, DC; Hartford, CT; Syracuse, NY; New York, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; and Austin, TX. These programs, which can be planned and carried out in 6 weeks, are not a one-time event but part of an ongoing series to move business and political leaders to action by having them witness firsthand the current dismal world of children. The main goals are to raise awareness, create new leaders, and inspire action. It has four major components:

1. On-site visits to programs serving children

2. Briefing by public policy experts

3. Written background materials

4. Experiential activities

Each project is planned and implemented by local organizations that support the movement to "Leave No Child Behind." At the end of the program, participants leave feeling inspired by endless possibilities in ways to help. Check out the Children's Defense Fund's Web site for more details: www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch.htm.>Bush Administration Budget Proposals and the Children's Gap

Four months into the current fiscal year, Congress completed action on the FY 2003 budget that is effective until September 30. To help finance increases in some priority areas, the omnibus FY 2003 budget bill includes a 0.65% across-the-board cut for almost all domestic programs. Funding for several child welfare programs will continue at current levels (minus the across-the-board cut), including Child Welfare Services, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act State grants, Adoption Opportunities grants, and Adoption Incentive Payments to states.

The president's FY 2004 budget proposes the establishment of a new child welfare financing option. The proposed budget affects program areas such as: foster care, adoption assistance, promoting safe and stable families, child welfare, social services block grant (Title XX), child care, Head Start, temporary assistance for needy families, fatherhood initiatives, community- and faith-based initiatives, behavioral health, substance abuse, abandoned infants assistance, and mental health. The budget of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration is reduced from $68 million to $34 million. Medicaid/SCHIP is changed drastically: projected 2003 spending was $162 billion with funding of $4.7 billion, and projected 2004 spending is $176 billion with $5 billion budgeted. Although the proposed Medicaid-Chip block grant will provide increased funding in the initial year, funds decrease in later years and leave states with a permanent cap on federal aid. The 2004 proposal would cut 30,000 children from child-care assistance this year (200,000 over 5 years), cut 570,000 children from after-school programs, and create new bureaucratic barriers for disadvantaged children to get school lunches.