On Tuesday, March 31, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged the Trump Administration to provide guidance to child welfare agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. The letter was addressed to Vice President Mike Pence and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) Commission Elizabeth Darling urging for immediate relief for youth, support
On Monday, February 24, 2020, the Supreme Court announced it will take up a case pursued by Catholic Charities of Philadelphia claiming the City of Philadelphia was engaged in religious discrimination when it pulled a child welfare contract because of the charity’s policy of not recognizing same sex couples for placements involving foster and adoptive
The Administration for Community Living is seeking input by Friday, February 7, 2020. The Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, passed in 2018, established an Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. That Council is seeking public input. They are particularly interested in opinions from former and current grandparent(s) or other older relative raising children, or
The Administration for Community Living is seeking input by Friday, February 7, 2020. The Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, passed in 2018, established an Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. That Council is seeking public input. They are particularly interested in opinions from former and current grandparent(s) or other older relative raising children, or
On Tuesday, November 12, the University Based Child and Family Policy Consortium held a webinar, “Partnering to Serve Pregnant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care in Illinois,” explained the results of the Healthy Families Illinois (HFI) Home Visiting Pilot Program. Speakers included Jaime Russell from Children’s Home and Aid and Amy Dworsky from the University
Last week S. 2777 and H.R. 4980, the Family First Transition Act was introduced in both houses with bipartisan support. CWLA has endorsed the legislation. The two identical bills will provide $500 million to all states and jurisdictions distributed under Title IV-B, part 1 formula. States will have two years (retroactive to October 1, 2019)
Last week we noted that the Children’s Bureau released the latest history of the Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentives Payment Program—Earnings History by State. The table also shows the state awards for FY 2019. A few days later, the Bureau published the individual categories of awards for each state. The individual categories of awards that
On Thursday, October 24, 2019 HHS released the 26th AFCARS Report indicating 3,788 fewer children in foster care in FY 2018 (437,283) from the 441,071 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 year, which is September 30,
CWLA continues to engage with committee staff and member offices on a pathway forward to address the proposed legislation. At this time, it is critical that we unite in our message – the Family First Transition and Support Act must pass as a comprehensive package, including the “de-link” from the 1996 AFDC eligibility requirements for
The Supporting Evidence Building in Child Welfare Project invites child welfare agencies and others to nominate themselves and a program or service to be evaluated. The project, funded by the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in partnership with the Children’s Bureau, conducts rigorous evaluations of interventions for the
