Shaquita Ogletree On Thursday, December 13, Congress passed H.R. 6964, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018. It has been 16 years since the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) was last authorized. JJDPA is the main federal law that strengthens protections for justice-involved youth and improves public safety. Upon final passage
On October 4, a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Brackeen V Zinke, Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is unconstitutional in its entirety based on the Equal Protection Clause and the 14th Amendment. The judge wrote that ICWA’s racial classification of children has
The Administration has announced one of their decisions regarding an update of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) with an August 21, 2018 Federal Register announcement. They will delay an implementation that was scheduled to take place now. Instead the Children’s Bureau will delay the compliance and effective dates in the
On Thursday, July 12 the House Appropriations Committee passed their Labor-Health and Human Services and Education bill after two previous delays. Most of the votes cast were along party line with a great deal of the debate focused on immigration and family separation. In the end the bill was approved along party lines with several
In March the Nebraska Foster Care Review Office (FCRO) issued their quarterly report that took an up-close look at children that re-enter foster care. In that closer look at the children and youth in foster care they found a much more significant number of children in foster care who had been in foster care at
David Hansell, Commissioner, Administration for Children Services, New York City opened the CWLA Conference in the first plenary session on Thursday, April 26. Mr. Hansell focused on the recent advancements New York City has made over the past twenty years in child welfare with foster care caseloads at one time exceeding more than 50,000 children
On Wednesday, April 25 Voices of Youth Count released a new study on the increased vulnerability for homelessness for LGBTQ youth. The latest study, LGBTQ Youth Homelessness in America, determined that LGBTQ young people are most at risk of youth subpopulations for homelessness. The survey of 18 to 25-year-old young adults found that, in the
The Education Civil Rights Alliance was announced on Thursday, November 2. The new coalition is made up of approximately 40 groups who have formed to provide resources to ensure that students not be blocked from getting an education under the education civil rights laws. The core mission is to assist students who are being denied
On Tuesday, February 28, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on juvenile justice issues. The hearing began with remarks by the Chairman, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), who in his opening statement, discussed the fact that last year he, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) crafted a bill that garnered bipartisan support to reauthorize the
The Trump Administration may be getting ready to issue an executive order that will “respect religious freedom” and could be so broad that it will allow the discrimination in the placement of children in adoptive, foster and kinship placements. It would extend these provisions beyond religious or faith based agencies to “any organization” including for-profit