This report presents an assessment of the performance of New York City's child welfare system in meeting its responsibilities to investigate and respond to reports of child abuse and neglect; provide services to children and families to prevent children's entry into foster care whenever possible; provide services to children while in foster care; and ensure that children in foster care exit care in a timely fashion to grow up in permanent families. These are the essential functions of a public child welfare agency. In New York City, the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) is the public child welfare agency responsible for these functions, in conjunction with the New York City Family Court.

Examining the interaction between families and professionals in the child welfare system of New York, this book focuses on how inequalities are reproduced, measured, managed, and contested. The book describes how state institutions and neoliberal governance police the groups which are most represented in the child welfare system, including low income, female-headed families living in racialized neighborhoods. The book also shows how these forms of policing produce unstable terrains, and give rise to contestation among families, communities, and professionals. It questions and re-thinks how state welfare and protection is administered.

Discussing major policy, management, and program issues facing Congress and the Clinton administration in the area of health and human services, this pamphlet provides recommendations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding the social security system, the welfare system, preventing child abuse, and safeguarding the nation's food supply. Following an overview of important issues facing the nation, the second section suggests steps to bolster public confidence in the social security system, including building the system's trust fund by increasing contribution levels and modernizing computer systems. The next section provides recommendations for continuing the welfare reform movement and the implementation of the Family Support Act, such as developing automated data systems to effectively manage caseloads, setting goal-oriented program performance standards, and identifying and sharing effective initiatives between states. The fourth section suggests that HHS provide states with greater flexibility in using government funds to prevent child abuse through early intervention and that a national foster care system be developed to provide outcome-oriented data on child welfare services. The final section proposes that an agency-wide system for tracking regulation development be implemented in the Food and Drug Administration to improve agency effectiveness and better allocate existing resources. Includes references for 22 related GAO products. (BCY).