Beginning in 1980, legislation in six states to establish a Children's Trust Fund has been enacted. The legislation creates new sources of support for preventive services in the area of child abuse in Kansas, Washington, Iowa, Virginia, Michigan, and California. To show how the trust-fund concept has been and can be adapted to different political…

This booklet provides answers to 12 questions about the rights and responsibilities of child care providers in California concerning the issue of child abuse. The questions are (1) Who is a "Child Care Custodian?" (2) How do I decide whether or not to report? (3) How do I recognize 'abuse' and 'neglect'? (4) How and when should I tell…

In California, the desire to do something about child abuse, fanned by repeated and often sensational media coverage, has led to an understandable but counterproductive overreaction on the part of professionals and citizens reporting suspected child abuse. Child protective agencies receive an average of one report a minute. There are over 300,000…

Concerned because California now annually administers an estimated $5.9 billion in funding for children's services programs, the Little Hoover Commission initiated a study on the state's provision for children's services. This report, on Phase I of the study, identifies the extent of the problem in 23 findings and provides a plan of action in 15…

This report focuses on the foster family home, with special emphasis on the non-relative, county-licensed home in 11 diverse counties of California. The analysis address the following four principal concerns: (1) the process of deciding to remove a child from his or her home; (2) the abuse of children who are already in foster care; (3) the…