Families in Child Welfare System Struggle to Meet Basic Needs

This legislative brief provides highlights from the 2008 Parent Survey, with an emphasis on parents’ economic hardships (e.g., two-thirds were unemployed), parents’ risk factors (e.g., nearly one-half had suffered major depression within their lifetime), and the differences between parents’ and social workers’ views of the parents’ service needs (e.g., parents said they need basic/concrete services more frequently than did social workers).