On Monday, May 11, 2020, the Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (AAICAMA) and CWLA sent a joint letter to Elizabeth Darling, Associate Commissioner Administration on Children, Youth and Families and Jerry Milner, Commissioner, Children’s Bureau asking for guidance to states encouraging them to review assistance agreements that, unlike
On Tuesday, May 12, HHS published final rule for the updated Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) regulations and requirements. AFCARS data reported by states annually helps to build a profile of the “child welfare” population by producing annual numbers on children in out-of-home (foster) care, adoptions and youth aging out to
On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, CWLA hosted the “Kinship Navigator Response to Covid-19 Pandemic: Virtual Assistance Kinship Navigator” webinar. It is the first of a two-part series, highlighting the importance of virtual assistance for kinship caregivers and what kinship navigators are doing to help these caregivers virtually during Covid-19. The webinar was facilitated by CWLA’s
On Friday, April 17, 2020, Associate Commissioner Jerry Milner highlighted the challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and human services systems inability to conduct services in the traditional approach. Milner’s letter to child welfare leaders urges them to collaborate with their governors and “to work with their emergency management and public health leadership
The three most significant legislative actions in terms of this nation’s history of child welfare policy have one thing in common: they were all followed by three of the worst recessions in the past half-century. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (PL 96-272), passed on June 17, 1980. It created Title IV-E of the
While CWLA applauds Congress for the efforts made to contain the spread and impact of the pandemic, more aid is needed to protect children and families most at risk during this time and address the emerging needs of states and localities. Over the last month, CWLA has emphasized the real experiences that child welfare agencies
On Friday, April 17, 2020, the Children’s Bureau released a letter to the child welfare field on allowable use of funds during the national emergency for the purchase of cell phones and other tools to facilitate or maintain contact with children and youth in foster care and their parents and the purchase of personal protective
On Wednesday, April 15, 2020, the Children Bureau provided flexibility for federal requirements regarding the criminal background checks and monthly caseworker visits in the child’s residence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter, Milner stated: “In light of the extraordinary circumstances related to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and nationwide public health emergency, we
Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) updated the guide for kinship caregivers on COVID-19 stimulus payments last week with several updates from the IRS with important updates including: • “Certain kinship caregivers may need to quickly give the IRS information about their children in order to get stimulus payments for children in 2020; once payments are sent,
On Friday, April 10, the Children’s Bureau released a letter from Jerry Milner suspending the Title IV-E Eligibility and National Youth in Transition (NYTD) reviews in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Milner stated the following: “Dear Child Welfare Leader: Over the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you