Race, Culture & Identity

Judges Outline Approaches To Improve Juvenile Justice

On Tuesday, February 23 the National Council of Juvenile Family Court judges sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing to highlight juvenile justice issues. The briefing included a panel discussion that was led by Dr. Sean Marsh from the Council and he was joined by four judges: Judge Karen Adams, AZ, Judge Deborah Schumacher, NV, Judge Richard

Tribal Help In Budget

The Administration proposes several assists to tribal governments and consortia intended to build child welfare capacity in a number of ways. In addition to the continuing $3 million in technical assistance for tribes attempting to take over the Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs, the Administration adds in three additional supports. Under Title

Coalition Pushing for JJDPA Senate Passage 

Last week more than 80 organizations, including CWLA, started to recirculate a letter of support for S 1169 a bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).  The legislation introduced early last year and passed out of committee is sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).  If enacted,

Expanded ACE s Tool Discussed On The Hill

On October 21 the National Crittenton Foundation sponsored a briefing, Beyond ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences). The focus of the briefing was on the use of the ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experience evaluation tool. Ongoing research and findings document that when individuals are evaluated in terms of how many adverse experiences they have had as a

CWLA Goes To Cuba

The Child Welfare League of America led by President and CEO of CWLA Christine James-Brown brought a delegation of child welfare agencies to Cuba to exchange information and approaches regarding child and family well-being. “We are excited to learn about the resilience of families and how they manage without a child welfare system in place,”

Wyden-Hatch Resolution Recognizes September as Kinship Care Month:

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have introduced a Senate Resolution recognizing September as National Kinship Care Month. The resolution builds on the effort by several states to also set-aside the month in recognition of families that provide vital kinship care services some within child welfare but many outside of the system.

Poverty Numbers Remain Unchanged

The poverty rate in 2014 changed little from the previous Census data according to the annual release by the Census Bureau.  The income report was released on Wednesday, September 16 and it showed that In 2014, the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent with 46.7 million people in poverty. The poverty rate for children under age

HHS Proposes Changes to SACWIS-Child Welfare Information Systems

On August 11, HHS issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on state child welfare information systems. Under the NPRM, HHS proposes to revise the regulations for the Statewide and Tribal Automated Child Welfare Information System—sometimes referred to as SACWIS. SACWIS, extended in 2012 to cover tribes, is the information system and technology that

Rafael Lopez New Head of Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Just before the Senate departed for their summer break they gave approval to Rafael J. Lopez as the new Commissioner for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF).  Lopez was confirmed on August 5th, after having been formally nominated by President Obama in January 2015. Lopez will fill a position that has been vacant

Wyden Bill: S 1964 As Good For Child Welfare As It Was For Civil Rights?

On Wednesday, August 5, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee introduced the Family Stability and Kinship Care Act, S 1964 with 7 additional cosponsors for the Senate Finance Committee. The legislation had been circulated as a draft in the late spring and Wyden received feedback from more than 60

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