Child Welfare in Rhode Island

Positive early experiences are critical to healthy development. During the first years of life, children’s brains develop rapidly as they acquire the abilities to think, speak, learn, and reason.

Early childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a profound influence on the brain’s physical development. A safe, supportive environment beginning in infancy and continuing through early childhood is critical for children to grow to their fullest potential.

Providing a child with a safe and stable living situation can offset or avert any number of negative influences that impact behavior, academic achievement, and the formation of secure relationships.

Our Publications

Factbook Indicators

Publications

• Issue Brief: Children's Mental Health in Rhode Island, October 2022
  Mental health in childhood and adolescence is defined as reaching expected developmental, cognitive, social, and emotional milestones and the ability to use effective coping skills. Mental health influences children’s physical health as well as their behavior at home, in school, and in the community. Mental health conditions can impair daily functioning, prevent or affect academic achievement, increase involvement with the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, result in high treatment costs, diminish family incomes, and increase the risk for suicide. This publication discusses the data and research about children's mental health, and offers recommendations for improving the behavioral care system and supporting families.
• Issue Brief: Child Neglect and Abuse in Rhode Island: Prevention and Support for Children and Families, March 2022
  Children need love, affection, and nurturing from their parents and caregivers for healthy physical and emotional development from birth through adolescence. However, parents and caregivers may have difficulty providing this support and may be at increased risk of maltreating their children if they are overwhelmed by multiple risk factors such as poverty, substance abuse, intergenerational trauma, isolation, or unstable housing. This publication discusses the data and research about child neglect and abuse, and offers recommendations for prevention and to support children and families involved in the child welfare system.
• Child Welfare Fact Sheet: Rhode Island’s Voluntary Extension of Care Program: Update, July 2020
• Child Welfare Fact Sheet: Achieving Race Equity in the Child Welfare System, July 2020
• Child Welfare Fact Sheet: Normalcy for Youth in Foster Care, June 2019
• Child Welfare Fact Sheet: The Every Student Succeeds Act and its Impact on Youth in Foster Care, June 2019
• Issue Brief: Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System in Rhode Island, February 2019
  The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are a time of great opportunity and great vulnerability. Experiences during the first three years are critical to healthy brain development and positive relationships with parents and caregivers and lay the foundation for social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development. Nationally and in Rhode Island, very young children are more likely to experience abuse and neglect than older children. In Rhode Island in 2018, nearly one in four victims of child abuse and neglect were infants and toddlers under age three (856 out of 3,505 victims).

Additional Resources

Rhode Island

• The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families is the state agency that oversees child welfare, children's behavioral health, and juvenile corrections in Rhode Island.
• The Office of the Child Advocate is the Rhode Island state agency responsible for protecting the legal rights and interests of children in state care.
• Foster Forward is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to empower foster children and foster families, and improve the child welfare system.
• Adoption Rhode Island is a private, non-profit organization that helps find adoptive families for children living in state care.

National

• Annie E. Casey Foundation National Data Center – Safety & Risky Behaviors Indicators
  Rhode Island KIDS COUNT contributes data to the national KIDS COUNT Data Center, which is managed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.The national KIDS COUNT Data Center connects you to over four million data points about the well-being of children and families in each state and across the country. You can easily access hundreds of indicators related to health, education, employment and income, child welfare, and many other topics. The Data Center is free and available to all.
• Child Welfare Information Gateway promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families by connecting child welfare, adoption, and related professionals as well as the public to information, resources, and tools covering topics on child welfare, child abuse and neglect, out-of-home care, adoption, and more. Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Child Welfare League of America is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies serving children and families that are vulnerable.