您如何参与进来
儿童福利机构得到的经费的增加或再分配都会直接影响这里提到的很多问题——如培训、工作上的支持和预算问题。经费显然非常重要,而您可能认为帮助这些机构获得更多的经费并不在您的能力范围之内。但是,事实并非如此。儿童福利机构的经费来自联邦、州及地方政府这三个层面,而选举人能通过很多方式来施加影响。
在用于儿童福利服务的经费中,最大的一笔资金流来自《社会保障法》(Social Security Act,简称“社保法”)的第四章第E条。这项条款为寄养机构里的儿童提供资金,也为被领养或即将被监护的特殊需求儿童提供帮助,还能帮助那些随着年龄的增长而要离开寄养机构的青少年提供独立生存的技能和支持。每个州从这笔资金流中获得的经费(特别是用于寄养机构的经费)随着时间的推移一直都在减少,因为收入标准在近20年间一直保持不变,而它决定了儿童的花销是否可以由联邦政府报销。因此,随着生活成本和联邦贫困线的升高,联邦政府提供给州政府的经费减少了[17]。这笔资金非常重要,因为这些用于寄养机构的经费不仅用来支付被寄养儿童的生活费用,还用来支付儿童福利社会工作者的培训经费和岗位收入。随着联邦经费的逐步减少,各州只能依靠州和地方政府以及其他项目(如医疗补助制度和对贫困家庭的临时救助项目)来为儿童福利服务提供经费。因此,在审核未来的州长及市长候选人的时候,我们需要确保当选者会大力资助这些项目,这是至关重要的一点,因为这将为机构提供更多用于儿童福利服务的经费。
另外,联邦政府给州政府提供了机会,让它们可以将一些资金灵活地分配到不同的服务上面,这让州政府可以资助一些基于实证的干预项目(“循证干预”,EBIs),而这些项目以前可能存在资金不足的问题。其中的一个例子就是宾夕法尼亚州的《社保法》第四章第E条“豁免示范项目”(Waiver Demonstration Project)。该项目让这个州里县级的儿童福利机构可以自行决定《社保法》第四章第E条资金的使用方式。那时,宾夕法尼亚州的各个县可以对儿童福利系统里的儿童与家庭提供三种基于实证的治疗方法,而这些治疗方法在以前因为缺少资金而无法得到实施。豁免示范项目提供的资金让各个州可以培训儿童福利社会工作者,开发数据库用来跟踪儿童与家庭的情况,并培训员工利用当地的数据库来为实践提供依据。《社保法》第四章第E条“豁免示范项目”是《儿童与家庭服务改进和创新法案》(Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act)中的一项条款,该法案在2011年被再次给予了5年的授权[18]。这项法案在2016年将会被重新授权,这意味着国会将有权改变儿童福利联邦资金的分配方式。作为选举人,这对于您来说是一个很好的机会,您可以联系您的国会代表和参议员,共同呼吁各州保留重新分配联邦资金的权力,并进一步推广这个项目让更多的州可以重新分配资金来保障儿童的安全。
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[1] UDHHS,2014.
[2] UDHHS,2011.
[3] Garcia et al.,2015.
[4] Child Welfare League of America,2001.
[5] Self,2014.
[6] Buckley et al.,2014.
[7] Fedoravicius,et al.,2008.
[8] U.S.Department of Health and Human Services,2011.
[9] Bowen et al.,2009;Collins-Camargo et al.,2011.
[10] Garcia et al.,2015.
[11] Day & Peterson,2008.
[12] Aarons et al.,2011.
[13] Garcia et al.,2015.
[14] Garcia et al.,2013.
[15] Palinkas et al.,2014.
[16] Fang et al.,2012.
[17] DeVooght et al.,2012.
[18] DeVooght et al.,2012.