Last week the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in HHS released a new study on opioid treatment and child welfare. The report, Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in the Child Welfare Context: Challenges and Opportunities, outlines some of the challenges in providing treatment to families involved with child welfare.
On Tuesday, November 13, the Department of Health and Human Services used their National Adoption Month celebration to highlight a new focus for the next year on the promotion of adoption of teenagers from foster care. The annual event, which began in 1994, was held in the great hall of the Hubert H. Humphrey HHS
n Thursday, November 8, HHS released the 25th AFCARS Report indicating that foster care placements increased for the sixth straight year going from 436,551 in FY 2016 to 442,995 in FY 2017. The AFCARS reports are based on the number of children in the system as of the last day of the federal fiscal
On Wednesday, November 14, Voice for Adoption (VFA) held their 14th annual Adoptive Family Portrait Project on Capitol Hill. The annual event in Washington DC features a number of families who have adopted from foster care. Those families then have their picture and their stories posted on display in the offices of their Member of
The HHS highlighting of the new movie Instant Family may be highlighting what seems to be a small trend in movies at least this year. It may be coincidence or interest but there are several movies this year that hit on child welfare or child welfare related issues from becoming a foster family, to past
On October 4, a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Brackeen V Zinke, Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is unconstitutional in its entirety based on the Equal Protection Clause and the 14th Amendment. The judge wrote that ICWA’s racial classification of children has
Last week the House of Representatives approved the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (HR 6157) by a vote of 361 to 61. The President signed the legislation on Friday afternoon. By doing that he extends funding for the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Education and Labor for the rest of the fiscal year
CWLA joined a number of groups including American Unity Fund, Family Equality Council, FosterClub, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, National Association of Social Workers, PFLAG National and Voice for Adoption to sponsor a Senate and a House briefing, How Discrimination in Foster Care Harms Foster Youth. The two briefing included remarks by Ernesto Olivares, San
Last Thursday, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources posted a transcript of the July 24, hearing update on implementation of the Family First Act along with a joint letter highlighting a few key questions and answers on implementation. The letter, is signed by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Congressman
Last week, HHS released data on the Adoption-Kinship Incentives awards for FY 2018 (based on FY 2017 data) and the total awarded was $64 million. The $64 million is the largest awards ever provided by the fund since it was created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The second biggest
