Child Welfare (1993)

WHEREAS, Jewish teachings oblige the Jewish community to provide and care for the weakest in society wherein children are undoubtedly among the most vulnerable; and

WHEREAS, the future of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and all other civilized nations depends upon the well-being and education of children; and

WHEREAS, a myriad of health problems associated with poor prenatal care and nutrition undermine the capacity of children to learn in school and develop as productive citizens; and

WHEREAS, some longstanding programs, such as Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Head Start, and Child Immunization have been proven successful, but have not been able to meet the needs of all eligible children due to insufficient funding; and

WHEREAS, payment of child support is critical to helping improve the economic condition of single mothers, but only 58% of all single parents have obtained from the courts orders of support, and less than half of them actually receive the relevant funds.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM and all of its affiliated congregations work in coalition with other like-minded groups to bring the problems of children at risk to the attention of the media and to local, state and federal legislators; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM supports:

1. legislation that would establish a national system of enforcing the collection of child support
2. increased funding for programs that provide support service to preserve families, and to reduce the incidence of child abuse or neglect and the number of children placed in foster care; and
3. funding for services needed to address the problems of children affected at birth by AIDS and substance abuse, including establishing sufficient treatment programs for addicted pregnant women and mothers, accompanied by appropriate child care.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM advocates full funding by the governments of early prevention programs, such as WIC, HEAD START, and Child Immunization, and calls upon every state to fully meet its funding responsibilities.