Placement & Permanency

President Outlines His American Family Plan

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, President Joe Biden used his first speech to a joint session of Congress to outline his “American Family Plan.” The plan is designed to complement or combine with his infrastructure plan to redesign the U.S. economy over the coming years.     The key provisions as outlined by the White House include a

Pandemic Findings on Youth Who Have Been in Foster Care or Homeless

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY)presented their report, Holding on by a Thread: The Cumulative Impact of the Pandemic on Youth Who Have Been in Foster Care or Homeless. JBAY conducted an online survey of 598 youth who have been in foster care or experienced homelessness from the State of California

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Texas On California Travel Ban Over LGBTQ

On Monday, April 26, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider Texas’ challenge to California’s ban on California-funded business trips to other states deemed to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The ban does not apply to California law enforcement, tax auditors, and collectors, and anyone who needs to travel to these states to appear before

National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council Identifies Council Priorities and Urges Implementation of Older Youth Pandemic Relief

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council held a webinar to discuss opportunities and priorities available under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.   A partnership between Foster Care Alumni of America, FosterClub, and Casey Family Programs, the council's mission is to strategically gather the voices and experiences

CWLA 2021 Legislative Agenda & Hot Topics

Following CWLA’s 2021 Virtual Conference will be Virtual Hill Day on Wednesday, May 12th, in which we are asking CWLA members and Conference registrants to go to Capitol Hill to virtual meet their members of Congress to educate them on key child welfare legislation.   The 2021 CWLA Legislative Agenda, which lays out key priorities for

Special “Open Mic” Call: Virtual Hill Day 2021

We hope you are planning to join your CWLA member colleagues for our 2021 Virtual Conference, Lessons Learned from 2020: Reaching New Heights for Children and Families, taking place from May 4-6, 2021. We have added on a fourth day for the CWLA 2021 Virtual Hill Day on Wednesday, May 12. This email is to invite

State of Babies Yearbook 2021 Baby Summit

On Thursday, April 22, 2021, Zero to Three held the State of Babies Summit to release the State of Babies Yearbook: 2021, which shows that even before the economic and social fallout of COVID-19, the babies of our nation did not have the supports needed to thrive. The pandemic has only further exacerbated disparities that affect

Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) Reforms on the Agenda

Recently Bethany Christian Services released a report detailing what their agencies have learned over this past year due to the pandemic. The report includes a number of observations and some proposed reforms. One of those reforms is a revaluation of a 1994 law called the Multi-Ethic Placement Act (MEPA) and, more specifically, a rollback of changes made

Record Numbers at Border

On Thursday, April 8, 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released monthly data on border crossing, which found that over 18,800 unaccompanied children crossed the border in March. That exceeds any other previous month, with May 2019 reaching the previous high of 11,000 children.   Overall the CBP indicated that more than 172,000 persons attempted entry along

Older Youth Pandemic Relief: Summary and Highlights of the Program Instruction (Part II)

On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, FosterClub and Juvenile Law Center with Youth Villages provided a second summary of the older youth sections of the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act program instructions and highlighted key areas to support the implementation of the law.   This webinar specifically provided the summary and highlights

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