What's New

• Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, H.R. 6893
  Read About the New Landmark Child Welfare Legislation: The Fostering Connections To Success Act and Increasing Adoptions Act. Includes key questions state and local child welfare advocates will want to ask to make sure the new law in implemented in a way to help children and families.
  
  
• Representatives McDermott and Weller Introduce Fostering Connections to Success Act (for CWLA Members only)
  Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jerry Weller (R-IL) have introduced the Fostering Connections to Success Act, a comprehensive child welfare bill that would extend support for kinship care, provide a state option to extend foster care to age 21, extend training to private agencies, provide tribes direct access to Title IV-E funds, require greater health planning for children in care, require greater coordination of on-going education for foster children, and reauthorize the adoption incentives program. View the in-depth analysis of what this means for you. (Requires your agency's CWLA member number and password. See links on the next screen to request this information if you don't already have it. Once logged in, see "What's New" on the right of the screen.)
  
  
• Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardian Support Act of 2008
  
  
• Media Tips
  
  
• Photos from the 2008 GrandRally for grandparents and other relatives raising children
  
  
• Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Files Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act (S. 3038)
  Grassley's bill would amend Part E of Title IV of the Social Security Act to extend the adoption incentives program, authorize states to establish a relative guardianship program, promote the adoption of children with special needs, and more. Read an in-depth analysis of what this means for you. (Requires your agency's CWLA member number and password. See links on the next screen to request this information if you don't already have it. Once logged in, see "What's New" on the right of the screen.)
  
  
• Representative McDermott Files Comprehensive Child Welfare Bill (for CWLA Members only)
  CWLA has written an extensive analysis of this far-reaching child welfare legislation, the Invest in KIDS Act, H.R. 5466. CWLA supports the new bill since it advances many of the key principles for a major reform proposal: federal support for all children in care, more flexibility in the use of funds to provide key services, support for kinship families, expanded access to federal funds by tribal communities, expanded support for youth, and funding to address the workforce shortage in child welfare. Read an in-depth analysis of what this means for you. (Requires your agency's CWLA member number and password. See links on the next screen to request this information if you don't already have it. Once logged in, see "What's New" on the right of the screen.)
  
  
• White House Conference on Children and Youth
  CWLA calls on the new President to convene a White House Conference on Child Welfare in 2010.
  
  
• Presidential Candidate Stances on Child Welfare
  
  
• Medicaid Interim Final Regulation on Targeted Case Management
  CMS has published a rule on Medicaid targeted case management (TCM) that appears to exceed statutory provisions authorized by Congress in the DRA. View CWLA's comments to CMS discussing the rule's likely negative impact on children and families.
  
  
• CWLA Member Testifies at Capitol Hill Medicaid Hearing
  Twila Costigan from CWLA member agency Intermountain (Helena, Montana) testified at U.S. House of Representatives Committee hearing that the proposed Medicaid Rehabilitative Services rule would severely disrupt the continuum of care by cutting back needed community-based services for the severely emotionally disturbed children she currently assists. The hearing may be viewed in its entirety here here and Ms. Costigan's testimony may be read here.
  
  
• Proposed Regulation on Medicaid Rehabilitative Services
  CMS has published a proposed regulation that would significantly limit federal Medicaid reimbursement for rehab services provided to children in the child welfare and foster care systems. CWLA has submitted these comments to CMS detailing its concerns and continues to work to preserve these vital community-based services for children with physical and/or mental disabilities.