We all want children in our state to be safe and healthy and have the opportunity to grow up in stable, nurturing homes.

Data and evidence have shown for years that preventing child abuse and neglect is possible when we invest in families by providing critical economic support and access to services to address mental health needs, substance use disorder, and domestic violence and abuse. Decades of research shows these things work to reduce maltreatment and prevent the separation of children from their families. These are good investments in the health and well-being of the next generation of Mainers.

The news has covered the steps that state and community partners are taking to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect. Our state is rightly focusing efforts on prevention as a way to keep children safe by keeping families strong, as outlined in the first version of the Maine Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan. One of the key strategies is “improving the economic security of parents and caregivers to provide safety and stability for their children.” The plan wisely notes that “economic security is fundamental to create the conditions for parents and caregivers to safely care for their children.”

It’s a simple idea, when you consider it. Children live in families; parents need to have the basic resources that are necessary to provide for themselves and their children. Poverty can often be confused for neglect, which can lead to judgment and stigma for parents who are struggling to financially provide for their families. This can be counterproductive, in preventing parents from feeling they can ask for help when they need it. We should be clear that family poverty is not the same as child abuse or neglect. Rather, we should address and alleviate the conditions that all too often bring families into child protective involvement, the conditions that prevent parents from having the resources they need to provide safety and stability for their children.

A key program Maine must better employ to make its systems work better for parents and children to ensure their success is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF is intended to provide a safety net for low-income families in Maine.

In fact, the first goal of the program is to “provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.” But at current benefit levels, most families receiving TANF can’t afford rising rents and the rising costs to meet their basic needs. Maine’s TANF grants are the smallest in New England, providing people with far too little to survive, let alone the chance to pursue higher education or better paying jobs that would help them achieve financial independence and security for their families.

L.D. 1877 is a concrete proposal that policymakers should pass this session to advance the vision outlined by the Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan by improving child safety and family well-being. By increasing benefits to provide more financial security to Maine families, this bill would address the issue head on. This is one of the best ways Maine can move more families beyond survival and put them on a path to stability and self-sufficiency. In addition to providing direct cash assistance and other supports to alleviate immediate economic stressors, TANF also provides critical support for job training and education, which stands to benefit our state’s workforce and our collective economic success.

Just as we provide resources to foster families who take in children in need, we should invest in resourcing parents in their capacity to raise their own children. Raising a child, whatever the caregiver’s role, takes significant financial resources and support for children and their families to have the best outcomes. Our investments in families of all types should reflect that. And L.D. 1877 provides a critical opportunity for us to demonstrate that commitment to Maine families.

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