Placement & Permanency

CHAMPS Campaign Comes to Brookings

On Wednesday, January 31, the Brookings Institution was the location for the 2018 CHAMPS kick off. Last December the coalition sponsored a briefing on Capitol Hill. CHAMPS – children need amazing parents is a campaign that promotes the need for state and local agencies to establish a new partnership between foster parents and child welfare

Juvenile Justice Coalition Looking for Sign-On to Letter

Shaquita Ogletree The Act 4 JJ Campaign is circulating a letter to Congress urging members to protect children and youth in the justice system and pass the federal juvenile justice bill ---Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA). The law has not been reauthorized since 2002. JJDPA supports efforts across the nation and helps young

A Look At Child Welfare During a Drug Crisis

Recently one of our members passed along this 2017 article based on the experiences of child protection workers in one overburdened county in Ohio—one of those areas overwhelmed by the spread of opioids. ‘It’s just horrific’: caseworkers break their silence to reveal toll of addiction on children Read the article by The Guardian, and understand

New Religious Civil Rights Office

On Thursday, January 18, the Administration announced the creation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division within the HHS Office of Civil Rights. The Administration described the responsibilities of the division as promoting and protecting religious freedom in HHS programs. The Office of Civil Rights Director Roger Severino said, “Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience

HELP Committee Continues Focus on Opioids

By Brittney Gerteisen On Tuesday, January 9, the Senate HELP Committee continued their examination of the spread of opioid addiction by hearing from one witness, author Sam Quinones. Sam Quinones is the author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” an award-winning book published in 2015 that tells the story of how opiates

CWLA Joins Groups Calling on Homeland Security to Protect Families

As reported during the December holidays, there is concern that the Administration is seeking to split up families at the boarder using child separation as a deterrent. CWLA has joined onto a joint letter by concerned groups in calling on Homeland Security to reject such policies. The new administration policy would allow for a policy

DACA Fate Closer to March Presidential E.O.

T here were White House talks on a DACA replacement last week but it was unclear what progress was made on replacing the Obama-era Executive Order (E.O) on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Democrats are making sounds that a DACA fix must be part of a deal done this month.

2018 ACA Assaults, Medicaid-Work, Collin’s Final Deal

DOL Regulations on Health Plans The Trump Administration continued its assault on the Affordable Care Act. On Friday, January 5, the Department of Labor published a proposed regulation to broaden the definition of group health plans for small businesses. The regulation is seen by ACA advocates as an attempt to circumvent some of the provisions

Foster Parent Recruitment on Capitol Hill

Shaquita Ogletree On December 13, 2017, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held a congressional briefing to discuss recruiting and retaining quality foster parents. The briefing focused on CHAMPS – children need amazing parents. The campaign promotes the need for state and local agencies to establish a new partnership between foster parents and child welfare

Which States Didn’t Increase Foster Care Caseloads Over Five Years?

With the latest data on child welfare showing that there are 437,465 children in foster care as of September 30, 2016 and a trendline of five straight years of increases going from 396,966 in 2012 to 437,465 in 2016, some states are going in the opposite direction. Counting California (with a slight increase) and the

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