Overloaded: Understanding Neglect

Overloaded: Understanding Neglect aspires to build a shared understanding of neglect, its underlying root causes, and how they overload families with stress.

Neglect is a complex and wicked problem, but it’s one that we believe is preventable if we work together to reimagine how we support families overloaded by stress. Neglect is a public health crisis, as it’s the most common reason that children are separated from their families by the government. 37% of all US children experience a Child Protective Services investigation, 13% of all children have a substantiated case of maltreatment, and children of color are disproportionately represented in foster care. Nearly 70% of children in foster care are separated from their families due to neglect.

Overloaded: Understanding Neglect represents the important first step of building a shared understanding of the problem and will serve as a foundation for future innovations in practice, policy, and systems change.

Join host Luke Waldo, Director of Program Design and Community Engagement at the Institute for Child and Family Well-being, as he explores these issues with research and policy experts Tim Grove (Wellpoint Care Network), Jennifer Jones (Prevent Child Abuse America), Bryan Samuels (Chapin Hall), and Dr. Kristi Slack (University of Wisconsin), Lived Experience expert Bregetta Wilson (Wisconsin Department of Children and Families) and five Children’s Wisconsin child welfare and child maltreatment prevention experts. Through these conversations, we developed a compelling narrative that seeks to build a shared understanding of the realities of overloaded families, so that we might find solutions that reduce family separations for reasons of neglect.