10 Practical Steps to Support Sustained Permanency by Kirk O’Brien, Yvonne Humenay Roberts, Kristen Rudlang-Perman, Crystal Ward Allen, and Peter J. Pecora Nearly one in five children in foster care has been in care before. Reentry into care can lead to fractured families. Stable, nurturing families can bolster youth resilience and lessen negative long-term effects—but
by Elizabeth Gibbons New Hampshire A federally sponsored review of New Hampshire’s child protective services has concluded that much still needs to be done to ensure the protection of vulnerable children and families. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, New Hampshire is failing in every category the HHS uses to determine
by Elizabeth Gibbons Ideas from Experts The Chronicle of Social Change, an independent publication focused on child welfare and social policy, has compiled a series of articles highlighting new policy recommendations made by participants in the Foster Youth Internship Program. There have been three articles so far. The first article aims to improve placement stability to
by Elizabeth Gibbons Kansas Kansas is in the midst of reforming its child welfare system, but a new decision to change requirements for child protection specialists has drawn concern from child advocates. In June, there were 80 open child protection positions, thus prompting this loosening of requirements. Now, applicants can become “unlicensed child protection specialists” with
by Elizabeth Gibbons Improvements to Child Welfare Services in Connecticut Every state child welfare agency faces challenges made worse by national immigration policies and the opioid crisis. Connecticut is no different; setbacks and tragedies plague the state’s Department of Children and Families. But despite this, Connecticut has been praised as a national model of child
by Elizabeth Gibbons Immigration Update Following the massive outcry about the separation of children and parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump Administration is looking to expand family detention centers to accommodate whole families. The Justice Department, under Jeff Sessions, is concerned that constraints on Homeland Security will make it “more likely that families will
by Elizabeth Gibbons Arizona The Arizona legislature has had a very busy session; a number of bills related to child welfare currently are on Governor Doug Ducey’s desk. Those bills include Parental Rights and Reunification (Senate Bill 1473), which moves to terminate parental rights within 10 days of removal under certain circumstances—often extreme substance abuse
by Elizabeth Gibbons Kansas The Kansas Department of Children and Families in Kansas is six months into a complete, top-to-bottom review and reform. In that time, more than 20 administrators managing child welfare and state services have been promoted, fired, or shifted to other positions. New director Gina Meier-Hummel has visited almost all of the
by Elizabeth Gibbons Michigan The Department of Health and Human Services child welfare agency in Michigan has been under federal investigation for almost a decade, and despite some advancements in their work, are still seeing an increased number of child deaths due to abuse or negligence while in state care. In fact, more children are
By Kirk O’Brien, Yvonne Humenay Roberts, Kristen Rudlang-Perman, Crystal Ward Allen, and Peter J. Pecora Nearly one in five children in foster care has been in care before. Reentry into care can lead to fractured families. Stable, nurturing families can bolster youth resilience and lessen negative long-term effects—but these protective factors can’t be nurtured if