Contact:
Linda Hall
lhall@wafca.org
(608) 257-5939
Linda Hall, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies, expressed her appreciation following the Speaker’s announcement today of the formation of a new Assembly task force to study the challenges that place Wisconsin families at risk of child neglect. The task force will recommend policies to address those challenges and to improve the systems of support, including foster care, to achieve better futures for Wisconsin’s children and families.
“We are grateful that the Assembly is providing a forum for stakeholders across the state to come together and discuss the challenges that today’s parents face and to identify community responses that help families thrive.”
“The vast majority of families in our child welfare system are there due to findings of neglect, not abuse. We believe that parents will parent well, if they can. There are great examples across the state of ways that communities are helping parents who are struggling get the basic supports they need to keep their children safe at home. We also know that there are times when parents, facing addiction, mental illness or other intense challenges, need the support that our foster care system can provide to offer stability and safety in times of need.”
“We look forward to working with legislators and sharing the stories that our member agencies see every day, including stories of: young parents who learned new skills to break through intergenerational trauma; former foster youth who value the love of their foster families, but see how the system could be better; foster and adoptive parents who open their doors and their hearts to make new futures possible; and proven prevention services like home visiting that make a real difference for Wisconsin’s families.”
