Quality, affordable child care holds the key to improved lives for all – better futures for children, greater economic opportunity for families, and increased workforce capacity for local and state economies. Unfortunately, today in the U.S., many struggle with the far-reaching impacts of a looming child care crisis. Despite recent job market growth, research shows [...]
There are numerous challenges facing the child care industry today. Many of these challenges—such as limited staffing, lengthy licensing process, convoluted administrative processes, and outdated technology solutions—are not new. Despite this reality, we continue to tackle the challenges with traditional approaches that do not meet the needs of the modern, evolving family, providers, or agencies. [...]
April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month to create awareness about the importance of strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect.
April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month to create awareness about the importance of strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect.
The recent passing of new rules by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC), signals a transformative shift that aims to streamline the child care application process and reduce bureaucratic hurdles making the process easier on families. Through my work as both a licensed clinical social worker and Director of [...]
While we celebrate National Social Worker Appreciation Month every March, it sets the stage for April – a month that marks the onset of National Child Abuse Awareness Month, where the volume of new reports concerning child abuse is projected to increase by double digits. Public Service Announcements and news stories will flood the public [...]
Capacity is a central concern for Medicaid agencies across the country as they redetermine coverage. The first step towards addressing this is to reduce the workload through ex parte resolutions. However, to truly empower the agency's workforce, it is crucial to equip them with the right tools and eliminate the need to search through multiple systems. While various data options exist, the key lies in proper curation - how we utilize, serve, and refine the data. By doing so, we unlock the full capacity of our existing workforce.
Fueled by increasing demands to improve federal measures and strengthen parental engagement activities and at a time when programs are experiencing significant staff attrition, decreasing budgets, and stagnant collections, child support programs are under extreme pressure to rethink how they serve children and families.
Our child welfare systems can feel like we are in a game of Jenga. We are attempting to grow and expand our systems by moving pieces one by one - while stretching our limited capacity. But with each move, the entire system risks collapse, particularly with worker shortages.
The only way out of the capacity crisis is to serve our customers completely and immediately. And data can now help us do this, when used correctly and applied at the most opportune time.
