Placement & Permanency

Senate Finance Hearing Adds to Collection of May Child Welfare Events

May is National Foster Care Month and as a result there have been a number of events on and around Capitol Hill focusing attention on child welfare in an effort to highlight issues around out of home care. On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will add to the focus by holding a hearing.  It will

Children’s Bureau Offers Webinars on Key Foster Care Issues

As part of their efforts and recognition of May as National Foster Care Month, the Children’s Bureau is hosting two webinars in the next two weeks. The first webinar, Supporting Permanency for LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care, was on Thursday, May 14. A second webinar will be on Thursday, May 21, from 2:00 to 3:30

Wyden Bill Would Provide New Funding To Child Welfare

On Monday, May 5, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee released a “discussion draft” of legislation that would invest new money into child welfare services through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The discussion draft would build on the Administration’s FY 2016 budget request that seeks to expand

Letter of Support for Administration Budget Proposals

The Child Welfare League of America is part of a number of groups led by First Focus Campaign for Children, along with Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA), Generations United (GU), the National Foster Care Coalition, and Voice for Adoption (VFA) circulating an advocacy sign-on letter urging support for the Administration’s FY

Foster Youth Caucus Discusses Kinship Care

Wednesday, May 6 the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held the first of a series of four briefings during National Foster Care Month (May). The caucus chaired by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) focused the first discussion on kinship care. Opening remarks were provided by Senator Grassley and Senator Stabenow’s offices.

Children’s Bureau Offers Webinars on Key Foster Care Issues

As part of their efforts and recognition of May as National Foster Care Month, the Children’s Bureau is hosting two webinars in the next two weeks. The first webinar, Supporting Permanency for LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care, is on Thursday, May 14, from 2:00 to 3:30 PM, EST and interested participants can Register here. A

CWLA Begins Conference, Asks For Virtual Hill Day Action

The CWLA 2015 National Conference starts on Sunday, April 26 with over 60 workshops and additional sessions, presentations, meetings and events beginning the next day.  One of the main features will be Tuesday, April 28, Hill Day in which members are asked to go to Capitol Hill to meet their members of Congress to educate

HELP Committee Moves ESEA Legislation Out Of Committee

On Thursday, April 16 the Senate HELP Committee gave a unanimous vote of approval to a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  The unnumbered bill is called the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.  It would replace the current ESEA reauthorization more commonly known as the “No Child Left Behind

Tax Day Bring Reintroduction of Refundable Adoption Tax Credit Bill

On Wednesday, April 15 Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) introduced the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2015.  It makes the current adoption tax credit fully refundable. The adoption tax credit was made permanent in the American Taxpayer Relief Act in January 2013 but the law did not extend the refundability

Groups Issue Joint Statement On LGBT Parenting

Last week the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) joined Voice for Adoption (VFA), the Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) in issuing a joint statement on Parenting of Children by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults. The statement says: (we) “believe that children deserve every opportunity to have

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