Placement & Permanency

Senate Caucus on Foster Youth Discusses Adoption Disruption and Dissolution

Shaquita Ogletree On Tuesday, November 27, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held a congressional briefing to discuss the issue of disrupted and dissolved adoptions. The event was a part of a series of Washington National Adoption Month events this year. The discussion focused on estimated ten to twenty-five percent of adoptions disrupted before being

Children’s Bureau Encourages More Primary Prevention

On November 16, the Children’s Bureau issued ACYF-CB-IM-18-05, a memorandum on primary prevention, and “to strongly encourage all child welfare agencies and Children’s Bureau (CB) grantees to work together with the courts and other appropriate public and private agencies and partners to plan, implement and maintain integrated primary prevention networks and approaches to strengthen families

NACAC, VFA & Center on American Progress Report on LGBTQ Issues

Voice for Adoption (VFA), the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) and the Center on American Progress have released a new study, Welcoming All Families that analyses discrimination against LGBTQ youth in foster care and discrimination against the recruitment of foster and adoptive parents. The report finds that although same-sex parents are not banned

HHS Research: Opioid Treatment, Child Welfare Challenges & Opportunities

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.

HHS Begins A Year of Focus on Adopting Teens

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

New AFCARS Shows Continued Increase

  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

Voice for Adoption Celebrates 14th Portrait Project on Capitol Hill

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

Report Outlines Challenges of Young People Exiting Foster Care

On Tuesday, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released, Fostering Youth Transitions analyzing that status and outcomes for young people exiting foster care. Fostering Youth Transitions uses data collected across 50 states to assess how young people fare as they transition from foster care to adulthood. Key points raised by the authors include: • Among older

New Annual Report on State of Native Youth

On Friday, November 16, the Center for Native American Youth at The Aspen Institute (CNAY) released its third annual State of Native Youth Report and celebrated Native American Heritage Month with a panel event in Washington, D.C. The 2018 report is the State of Native Youth Report: Generation Indigenous. The report was released at the

Movies Imitate Life and Child Welfare

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

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