As states struggle to secure resources for the child welfare systems, they continue to face the on-going fact that more than half of child abuse and neglect investigations result in no finding of abuse or neglect. In addition, funding for services for those families and children substantiated for abuse or neglect is primarily provided by local or state funding. Thus, one of the policy issues that may be addressed in the next decade is to revisit the legal definitions of child maltreatment. One possible policy approach would be to reverse the expansion of the definition of abuse and neglect and create a narrower definition that could result in fewer investigations and the release of more funding for services; or states could create stricter screening procedures and reduce the number of investigations.

None of the federal legislative initiatives in the last 25 years has yielded significant improvements in achieving permanence for children in out-of-home care, assuring stable reunifications, and/or reducing the number of children waiting for adoption while also reducing adoption disruptions. The pendulum has swung from a concern for family reunification to child safety, but the issue or permanence remains to be appropriately and adequately addressed.