Child Protection (Pre COVID, Pre terrible current politics, Pre coming budget cuts) left many children behind. Historically we the people have been aspirational. We talk big about valuing children and striving for wellbeing and equality for all Americans.. Today’s effort to destroy DEI and the institutions responsible for America’s leadership in the world are corrosive and will leave a trail of broken people and promise. The dream of doing all this harm for more money is unlikely going to materialize and even if it does, who will benefit? Certainly not the people that need it. Who will pay the biggest price for it? Certainly the people that are least able to pay for it. This article dives deep into the economics of Child Protective Services.
Minnesota CPS (Child Protective Services) pre COVID was already shrinking screened in cases and services to children in need. There were under 40K referrals in 2018, and over 80K in 2024. In 2018, about half of cases were investigated, in 2014, about one quarter of cases were investigated. Caseloads per social worker grew, cases became more critical and damaging as COVID kept children in toxic homes longer with no chance of a mandated reporter freeing them. Schools were closed and online reporting of abuse was the norm.
Higher levels of childhood trauma during and following COVID have led to higher turnover in Child Protection workers. Its even a bigger problem replacing them in a tight job market. The cost of high turnover in a workforce requiring the training and long learning curve of social work and Guardian ad Litem work should be part of the cost benefit analysis in any economic equation concerned with Return On Investment.
Its significant that management in the Guardian ad Litem office fought hard for three years to eliminate the CASA Community Volunteer program during and post COVID. They succeeded in reducing number of community volunteer volunteer Guardians ad Litem from about 400 to 12. This has had a direct and lasting impact on the quality of life for Minnesota’s abused and neglected children.
Ad to this, the slash and burn politics at work cutting entire safety net programs for at-risk children. Many of these cuts are hitting programs where each dollar eliminated from a volunteer program directly reduces community volunteer help by $10 to $100 dollars.
The value of each new volunteer would include the following: 100,000 volunteers (Average length of service 3 years)
Direct Dollar conversion of 3 years of service at 20 hours/month * $25/hr = ($1,800,000.00)
Plus, Indirect conversion, Children with CASA volunteers spend 7.5 fewer months in foster care compared to those without CASAs. At a cost of $3,250/month per child in foster care, this saves taxpayers $24,375 per child annually1. In 2010, CASA advocacy saved $5.85 billion in foster care costs for 240,000 children1 CASA involvement reduces the number of foster care placements.
In other words, you can’t have an effective volunteer organization without trained professional staff and each dollar for a staff person can manage $10 to $100 dollars worth of volunteer help. The community wants to help and it is arguably the best return on investment that can be had for any government spending.
Across the spectrum of programs under the knife, for each paid staff member, there are ratios as high as hundreds or even thousands of volunteers per staff member. Every Meals From The Heart has 3,655 volunteers per staff member. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs): average one staff supervisor for every 30 volunteers. (other examples in the read more).
A single CASA Guardian ad Litem area of savings, the annual foster care savings alone makes the point. $5.85 Billion (for 240,000 CASA cared for children with 7.5 fewer months in foster care worth $3250.00/month) multiplied by 3 years (avg retention of a CASA Guardian ad Litem) by 95,000 volunteers =15,174,000,000 (over 15 billion in saved government funding by CASAs for this single part of the Child Protection equation).
This misleading “saving money” battle cry as volunteer organizations are being dismantled by a misguided political movement isn’t saving children or money. In fact a quick read of recent studies in the medical field indicate that untreated high ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experience) people are costing our nation over 14 Trillion dollars each year. That doesn’t include the huge loss in life years those people suffer from.
More proof for points made in this article sources and statistics are available in the read more below.
Changing the narrative and improving life for abused and neglected children will take all of us.
Share this article widely, especially your State Representative – find them here.
In 2018, Minnesota Child Protective Services (CPS) received 39,581 reports alleging child maltreatment. These reports involved children who were subject to investigations or assessments by CPS14. About half of child abuse reports in Minnesota were screened in for investigation.
In 2024, Minnesota Child Protective Services (CPS) received 81,645 referrals for child abuse and neglect. Of these, about one quarter of referrals were screened in for further investigation or response by CPS. 23.
Caseloads in 2018
- National Standards: Best practices recommend caseloads of 12–15 cases for intake workers and 12–20 cases for case management workers3.
- Minnesota Context: In Ramsey County, caseloads were capped at 15 cases per worker, aligning with national standards3. However, statewide averages may have been higher due to staffing shortages and turnover.
Caseloads in 2024
- Reported Caseloads: Caseloads remained high across Minnesota, with some counties struggling to meet recommended standards due to workforce shortages and increased administrative burdens57.
- Challenges: High turnover rates (average tenure of 2.5 years) and outdated technology in the Social Services Information System (SSIS) contributed to inefficiencies, often leaving workers with unmanageable workloads57.
CASA PER FEDERAL DOLLAR CALCULATIONS:
When you run the savings numbers (using the current wage paid to staff) volunteers working 20 hours/ month at $25/Hr times the 100,000 volunteers in the nation today = a volunteer investment in children of $600,000,000.00 annually. Add to that the value of an average of three children per volunteer saved from toxic homes by 100,000 CASA volunteer Guardian ad Litems is astounding. Not included in our calculation are the many millions of dollars per child murdered or almost murdered in CPS by their parents because they did not have a monthly check in from their Guardian ad Litem.
A low estimate per murdered
20 hours / month is a low number for any GAL. 1 case with 2 children requires monthly visits to the child and family, checking in with school, and court time for each child. Current reporting efforts take about a third of most guardian time. The other low estimate is in per hour value of workers that are actually mental health professionals as they are dealing with traumatized children and high stress people. Paid staff turnover is at record high levels and we expect wages to rise to $30/per hour or more for paid GAL staff for any chance of finding new workers..
It is likely, that the 20 hour figure includes digital visits which became common during COVID and are profoundly unreliable in helping remove the child in need of mandated reporting.
Think about it. The child is in the same home, probably very deliberately near the abuser while they are answering questions about the abuse has occurred on a Zoom call. This never works for the child.
IMPORTANT STATS:
CASA volunteers increase adoption rates by 17%, which reduces public costs by $75,000 per adoption (e.g., foster care, court costs). This translates to a $12,750 per-child benefit3 ,
Adopted children are 23% more likely to graduate high school, Cumulative Lifetime Earnings Boost:
Over a 48-year career span (ages 18–65), high school graduates can earn an additional $374,832 compared to non-graduates2.
Judges report CASA-involved children are “significantly safer”, with a conservative monetized safety benefit of $1,266 per child3.
Federal funding for CASA yields a 30:1 ROI.
The value of each new volunteer would include the following: 100,000 volunteers (Average length of service 3 years) – Direct Dollar conversion of 3 years of service at 20 hours/month * $25/hr = ($1,800,000.00) Plus, Children with CASA volunteers spend 7.5 fewer months in foster care compared to those without CASAs. At a cost of $3,250/month per child in foster care, this saves taxpayers $24,375 per child annually1.
In 2010, CASA advocacy saved $5.85 billion in foster care costs for 240,000 children1 CASA involvement reduces the number of foster care placements.
In Nebraska, children with CASAs had 3.9 placements vs. 6.6 for non-CASA children, saving $1,148 per child in administrative costs3. In 2010, Nebraska had 8,258 children in out-of-home care, which includes both foster care and group homes, at some point during the year. Total savings by CASAs for Nebraska’s 8258 foster and group home care children in 2010 could have been (if every child had a CASA) = 8,258 children * $1148 = $9,840,000.00.
California has the highest number of children in foster care, with approximately 45,924 placements as of fiscal year 202212. (45,924 * $ 3250 per placement child) = $1,119,397,500.00
From the perspective of what is the value of a recruiting a new CASA considering they serve for three years. With annual foster care savings $5.85 Billion (for 240,000 children CASA cared for with 7.5 fewer months in foster care at $3250.00/moth) * 3 =15,174,000,000 (over 15 billion dollars).
This is in addition to the $1.800,000,000.00 value of wages ($600,000.000.00 annually) not paid to these volunteers over the same three years.
The total number of children in foster care nationwide is estimated to be around 369,000 annually15. Thus, no single state reaches the 80,000 mark.
Add to this, CASA volunteers play a crucial role in fostering resilience and improving both immediate and lifelong physical and mental health outcomes for children in the child protection system.
Child Advocacy Centers
Declining VOCA Funds
- Federal VOCA funding has been shrinking for years due to reductions in criminal fines and penalties, which finance the Crime Victims Fund. For example:
Impact on CACs (Child Advocacy Centers)
- Many child advocacy centers rely heavily on VOCA funds, which accounted for an average of 35% of their budgets nationwide last year4.
- The funding cuts have led to staff shortages, reduced services, longer wait times for forensic interviews and counseling, and even the closure of some centers, particularly in rural areas4.
- Prevention programs are often the first to be eliminated when funding gaps arise2.
Advocacy Efforts
- Efforts to stabilize funding include state-level legislation and federal proposals. For example:
Alternative Funding Sources
- While some centers have sought support through private donors, grants, and fundraising events, these sources lack the stability and scale provided by federal funding45.
Without intervention, further cuts could jeopardize essential services provided by CACs to vulnerable children and families across the country.
Across the more than 900 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) nationwide, there are approximately 300,000 volunteers actively contributing to the mission of supporting children suffering from childhood trauma and abuse. This estimate reflects the collective efforts of individuals involved in various roles, such as victim advocacy, forensic interviewing, and community support. The average volunteer hours provided by each CAC (Children’s Advocacy Center) volunteer:
Averaging volunteer hours over 900 CACs, each CAC works with 600 volunteers annually, who collectively provide 27,000 volunteer hours3. 27,000 hours / 600 volunteers = 45 hours per volunteer per year. A low estimate of dollar value provided by these 600 volunteers is (27,000 * $25) = 675,000.00 per CAC * 900 CACs nationally = $607,500,000.00 annually. Add to this the lives saved and value turning tortured and traumatized children into functioning members of our communities.
The quality of life and culture of a society are defined by its institutions. Either a society is supports and improves its institutions and values the children, infirm, and aged populations being served or it will not. Ignoring, diminishing, or dismantling a nation’s institutions will see far more suffering in populations of need and far less hope for their safety, healing or improvement. What should concern us is the joy with which this destruction and diminishment of civic institutions is being cheered on with. People are suffering and people appear to be enjoying the act of making people suffer.
Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota recent Investigation proved how many children were dying at the hands of their caregivers while in CPS. It laid out in detail how they died, why they died and what could have saved them. The range of lawsuit value of children under five being murdered is between $500,000.and ten million dollars. Using 5 million dollars as average for the 200 children known to be murdered by their caregivers while in Child Protective services would add 1 trillion dollars in value to a well functioning Child Protection system in Minnesota plus the saved heart break of the community and all the people involved in that child’s life and death.
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(Pliny the Elder, 2000 years ago)
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