Category: Faculty & Staff

A new study shows promising results from Rx Kids, a cash support program for new mothers in Flint. Since the program began, infant maltreatment allegations have dropped sharply.

Rx Kids provides every pregnant woman with $1,500 during mid-pregnancy and $500 per month throughout the baby’s first 6–12 months, helping families improve financial stability and reduce stress.

Illinois Social Work professor William Schneider, a co-author on the study, researches how economic supports such as housing and income assistance can prevent child maltreatment. He noted that Flint’s infant maltreatment rate was more than double the state’s before the program, but within the first year, the gap narrowed by 50 percent.

Launched in Flint in 2024, Rx Kids has expanded to other Michigan communities, including Gladwin and Roscommon counties. Supporters say the program strengthens families, increases prenatal care, reduces substance use, and improves housing options.

Read more about the Rx Kids study

A new study from the School of Social Work’s Children and Family Research Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sheds light on an often-overlooked issue: why some children experience maltreatment even after being placed in foster care. Although the percentage of children who experience abuse or neglect while in foster care is small, the consequences are serious. For children who have already endured trauma, experiencing additional maltreatment can cause lasting harm to their physical and emotional well-being. It can also lead to placement changes that disrupt schooling, friendships, and stability.

The study, titled “Predicting Maltreatment in Foster Homes: The Role of Child Welfare Agency Policies,” was led by Tamara Fuller, Shufen Wang, Martin Nieto, and Zainab Suntai. It examined data from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to understand how child, caseworker, and agency-level factors influence the safety of children in foster homes.

While the goal of foster care is to protect children from abuse or neglect, the research found that certain systemic factors can increase risk. One of the most significant predictors of maltreatment was foster home licensing. Children placed in unlicensed kinship or fictive kinship homes, which are homes with relatives or close family friends who are not officially licensed, were at higher risk of experiencing maltreatment than those placed in licensed homes.

The researchers also found that larger caseworker caseloads, more unrelated children living in the same foster home, and children with mental health needs were associated with greater risk of harm. “These findings emphasize the vital importance of child welfare agency policies and practices in reducing the risk of maltreatment for children who have already experienced the trauma of being removed from their homes and placed into foster care” said study co-author Tamara Fuller, director of the Children and Family Research Center. “New policies that are being implemented under the recently passed Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act in Illinois aim to increase the percentage of kinship caregivers who are licensed or certified. This could have a positive impact on lowering the number of children in care who are maltreated.”

The full publication is available online through the journal Child Maltreatment, and a copy of the publication can be obtained by contacting Dr. Fuller at t-fuller@illinois.edu.

A University of Illinois social work researcher is helping uncover how financial supports can strengthen families and reduce child neglect.

The League of Women Voters of Champaign County will host “Economic Supports and Child Health and Well-being” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22. The free, public webinar will be held via Zoom, with the link available at lwvchampaigncounty.org. A recording will be posted on the same site following the event.

William Schneider, associate professor of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and faculty director of the Children and Family Research Center, will serve as the featured speaker. Schneider notes that while child maltreatment prevention has long been a public health priority, traditional efforts have not significantly reduced the number of neglect cases.

“Current efforts in maltreatment prevention have not reduced the number of child-neglect cases,” Schneider said. “Though researchers have assumed a real connection, they have rarely been able to see whether cash grants to poor families reduce the need for welfare-system interventions on behalf of children.”

During the webinar, Schneider will discuss findings from the Empower Parenting and Resources Project, a collaboration between the University of Illinois, the University of Connecticut, and Rutgers University. This large-scale study examines how direct monthly cash grants affect rates of reported child neglect and offers new insights into how financial stability supports healthier family outcomes.

Douglas Smith, Director of the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, was recently featured on The Catalyst podcast. In the episode, Dr. Smith discusses how teens perceive and define recovery, drawing on findings from the Illinois Youth Survey. He explains why only 5% of surveyed Illinois youth consider themselves in recovery—compared to 8% of adults nationally—and explores what this means for schools, communities, and healthcare systems working to support young people.

The conversation also highlights why mobile apps have proven to be relatively ineffective for adolescent mental health treatment and offers insights into alternative recovery pathways. Dr. Smith shares perspectives from his new book, Motivational Interviewing with Families, which provides practical approaches for supporting youth in their recovery journeys.

Listen to the full conversation here: The Catalyst Podcast

The “long arm of childhood” on mortality in older adulthood in the United States and Brazil: examining the role of educational attainment and differences by gender, a paper co-authored by Social Work professor Dr. Flávia Andrade, University of Texas professor Mateo Farina, and Eric Klopack (postdoctoral researcher, University of Southern California at time of writing) has been accepted at Oxford University Press.

Using data from Brazil and the United States, the team analyzed how childhood socioeconomic conditions and childhood health influence mortality later in life.

Their findings concluded how early disadvantages matter in both countries, but the pathways differ. In Brazil, education serves as a pathway linking childhood socioeconomic disadvantage to mortality for women but not men. In the United States, the opposite pattern emerges—education is a pathway for men but not women. Childhood health also predicts mortality in the United States but not in Brazil.