High Poverty Rates Put Children at Greater Risk

With poverty rates ever-increasing in the United States, and continued talk of budget cuts in most every sector of society, Americans are left to discover for themselves what all the cutting back means for their daily lives.  For those who were already hovering around or below the poverty line, cuts to federal programs and public welfare funds means they are stripped of survival support.  As programs are cut and public assistance disappears, children stand to be hardest hit, especially those living in violent homes.

One of the agencies most affected by cuts this year is Child Protective Services.  Funds to prevent abuse of children have been cut 44 percent in the last legislative year alone.  The agency continues to run on a budget designed in 2009, which does not allow for caseload growth, or the needed support for the relative caregivers of children who have been removed from their homes.

The finance problem is pervasive in non-governmental organizations and programs alike, as domestic violence prevention groups and shelters continue to lose funding and many are threatened with shutting their doors to the people who seek their immediate assistance.  Meanwhile, the average stay in shelters for children has increased, pointing to the effect of financial instability on violence in the home.

Poverty and violence in the home have historically coincided, not necessarily in a causal way, but in a way that suggests the confluence of financial stress, a potentially violent background and a general feeling of helplessness can contribute to conflict in the home.  Julia Spann, the executive director of SafePlace, which provides services to victims of domestic violence: “I don’t think that a bad economy causes violence.  The precursors are already there, and then you add all the stressors and it gets worse. Then it’s harder to get help, and for shelters it’s harder because people don’t even have the means to leave the shelter because they can’t get jobs.”

Beyond the immediate effects of poverty on violence in the home, poverty limits the options of abused women and children to free themselves from their situation.  A lack of funds translates to a lack of options.  In order for women to successfully negotiate themselves and their children into a safe environment, they need legal assistance, childcare, transportation, food and a place to stay, many of which they cannot afford without the financial support of their abuser.

While women once sought federal funds and programs to provide temporary assistance of this sort, the options are increasingly limited for help.  Even if a woman decides that she must offer her children to foster care or to a children’s safe home, she is increasingly unable to find places that will have room for her children.  A woman who is unable to find a way to support herself through employment and who cannot access public funds or find a shelter, will feel helpless to leave her situation and protect her children.

In a time of budget cuts to imperative federal programs, it is necessary to reflect on the need to break the cycle of domestic violence, by reaching out to the children who have themselves suffered abuse, and working to heal and educate them toward making their own futures free of violence.  We can hope that as the cycle of violence is broken down, the demand for the programs for assistance to children from violent homes will decrease, as today’s witnesses of domestic violence will go on to foster safe home environments for their children.

Amy Richards