When new children come into the world, they bring a sense of hope and anticipation for their family. Families view this child as their hope for the future. For most families this anticipation culminates in the achievement of important milestones as the child grows up and moves into adulthood as a productive member of society. […]
This report is the third annual update of the Arkansas Child Welfare System by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF). It examines the Division of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) performance data from January 2000 through March 2007. The data shows that DCFS performed well on many of its indicators in the early 2000s, but began experiencing a significant decline […]
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) released its annual assessment of the Arkansas child welfare system today. The report titled, Children in Crisis, examines performance data from the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to determine how well they are serving Arkansas’s children. Although the report shows some improvements, the overall findings are […]
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families created this guide to introduce you to the world of of child advocacy and to outline the skills needed to be a successful child advocate. It is a practical guide suitable to a variety of children’s issue areas such as education, health, economic self-sufficiency, child welfare and juvenile justice. […]
The 2007 session of the Arkansas General Assembly was a successful one for children and families. Under Governor Beebe’s leadership and with the support of legislative leaders, the state took major steps to improve the well being of children and families. Most notably, the legislature approved the final $40 million of funding for quality Pre-K […]
Poison, Problem, and Perspective: The Impact of Methamphetamine on the Arkansas Child Welfare System” is a study conducted by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families that began as a project to determine the effect that methamphetamine, or “meth,” has had on Arkansas’s child welfare system. However, the results of the study brought the author to […]
This report is based on a study conducted by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families that set out to determine the effect that methamphetamine, or “meth,” has had on Arkansas’s child welfare system. The results of the study brought the author to both interesting and disturbing conclusions about the way the system deals with substance […]
The past year was an exciting one for the staff and board of AACF. Our work led to an important victory for low income families — raising the state minimum wage to $6.25 an hour. Our work also helped set the stage for increasing funding by $40 million for quality pre-k for at-risk children during […]
The performance of the Arkansas Child Welfare System declined significantly beginning in 2004, as measured by a broad range of indicators related to protecting children from abuse and neglect and providing services to help children and families. The decline corresponded with a severe shortage of family service workers at the Division of Children and Family […]
In 1997, with the enactment of Title XXI of the Social Security Act, the State Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created with strong bipartisan support. Initially authorized as a 10-year program, SCHIP has become widely regarded as one of the greatest recent social policy successes. SCHIP was crafted to provide affordable health care coverage to […]