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Scandals, Lawsuits, and Politics: Child Welfare Policy in the U.S. States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Juliet F. Gainsborough
Juliet F. Gainsborough*
Affiliation:
Bentley University
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Abstract

In order to understand what factors drive child welfare policymaking, this research analyzes data on spending and legislation from the U.S. states over a three-year period. The key independent variables are scandal, litigation, federal oversight, and local discretion. While states that experience a scandal or a lawsuit do not increase their spending levels over previous years, they do enact more child welfare legislation. This raises the possibility that states engage in symbolic rather than substantive responses to child welfare crises. The administrative structure of the child welfare system also affects state policymaking.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , Fall 2009 , pp. 325 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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