Back in February we issued a budget brief highlighting the good, the bad, and missing investments in Governor Scott’s proposed 2021 budget. Fast forward seven months to the middle of a pandemic that has revealed the substantial limitations of our family and economic support systems - the tools families need to raise healthy, thriving kids.

As we know, the safety and wellbeing of children is dependent on the safety and well being of their family unit.  While working to ensure that families of origin have the resources that they need to gain stability and safety, we also have to be aware of the families the children and youth are placed in.  Jeopardizing their safety sets the entire unit up for failure.  

n a little over a month, COVID-19 has exposed extraordinary needs as well as inequities across almost every sector of society. In many ways, this crisis has revealed that government can act boldly and decisively when the urgency of the challenge is undeniable - an approach that should be maintained after the current public health threat subsides. But while acting with all due speed, we must also take the time to ask hard questions about unintended consequences that could be putting our most vulnerable at greater risk.