New annual data from HHS indicates that the number of children in foster care increased by more than 14,000 children in federal fiscal year 2014. According to the annual HHS report, the number of children in foster care increased to 415,129 compared to 400,989 in 2013. The totals represent the number of children in out-of-home
With limited action last week beyond the Pope’s visit to Washington and Congress, the status of a government shutdown looked less clear until Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) surprise announcement that he will be leaving both his position and Congress at the end of October. Signals coming from the House are that the more conservative elements
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have introduced a Senate Resolution recognizing September as National Kinship Care Month. The resolution builds on the effort by several states to also set-aside the month in recognition of families that provide vital kinship care services some within child welfare but many outside of the system.
This past week Montana Governor Steve Bullock announced a plan to improve child protection and child welfare services. The announcement comes against a backdrop of increasing state foster care numbers and a threat by HHS to cut-off CAPTA funds if the state does not come into compliance with that law’s federal requirements on disclosure of
The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities has been holding a series of deliberation calls to settle on recommendations that have the potential to be wide ranging in their impact on state child protective services and child welfare systems. The Commission established by Congress at the end of 2012 (Protect Our Kids Act
With the government nine days away from running out of funding, by week’s end the only clarity in Congress was a lack of clarity. Congress will end legislative action this week after Tuesday with time off for Yom Kippur on Wednesday and a suspension of legislative action for the Pope’s speech and visit. Here is
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on the issue of unregulated custody transfers what some in the news media have labeled as "rehoming." The GAO report, Steps Have Been Taken to Address Unregulated Custody Transfers of Adopted Children was undertaken at the request of Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Congressman Jim
The poverty rate in 2014 changed little from the previous Census data according to the annual release by the Census Bureau. The income report was released on Wednesday, September 16 and it showed that In 2014, the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent with 46.7 million people in poverty. The poverty rate for children under age
The Child Welfare and Supportive Housing Resource Center brought together participants from five place-based initiative sites to discuss the progress of their new efforts. The pilots are attempting to better assist child welfare involved families through an intensive approach that combines supportive housing and human services in an effort to keep families together. The five
New data by the Census Bureau released on Wednesday showed a significant drop in the percentage of people without health insurance. According to the new census report, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage decreased between 2013 and 2014 by 3.0 percent (actual 2.9 percent). The data is based on the Bureau’s American Community
