In drafting comments on how we can improve behavior health services for children, youth, and their families (especially child welfare) there are some important sources of recommendations Earlier this year, Child Trends issued: A National Agenda for Children’s Mental Health. The paper says that “Efforts to promote children’s mental health are often spread across
When the CR was passed last Thursday, it did not extend pandemic relief funding for youth exiting foster care including additional $400 million in Chafee-pandemic relief funding (annual mandatory Chaffee funds are set at $143 million). The addition $400 million expired at the end of fiscal year 2021. It is not clear how much of
A House companion bill to address the IMD/QRTP issue was introduced in the House on Wednesday, September 29, 2021. The bill H.R. 5414, is the same as the Senate version (S. 2689) with Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) and Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), as primary sponsors. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
November is national adoption month. This year’s theme is “Every Conversation Matters”, which means engaging youth in permanency plans through open conversations about adoption. As Adoption Month approaches, the Children’s Bureau kickstarted the conversation by hosting the webinar Every Conversation Matters featuring two young women with lived experience and an adoption supervisor. The first young
Mathematica Planning Title IV-E Prevention Services: A Toolkit for States includes a section on Identifying and Engaging Partners in implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). With states at various stages of successfully planning and implementation and must consider the following things: 1) understanding their candidacy of foster care, 2) figuring out the
On September 13, 2021, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) event, On Their Own Two Feet: Helping Foster Youth Transition to Adulthood, examined how to improve outcomes for young adults in the child welfare system. The panel included Ruth White of the National Center of Housing and Child Welfare, Eric Gilmore of Immerse Arkansas, and Tim
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI) hosted a Congressional Briefing with Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth Co-chair, Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI). Kenneth Chancey, Policy Manager of NFYI, organized this Congressional Briefing to highlight H.R. 5167. In this legislation, Chafee pandemic funding would extend into 2022, including access to increased funding eligibility to extended youth in foster care
On Wednesday, August 18, the John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) webinar, Learn How Santa Clara County Got Over $135K to 45 Foster Youth in Need of Income During the Pandemic, shared the results of a pilot project with Santa Clara County Social Services Agency (SSA) and other local partners to increase foster youth utilization of
A new GAO report: CHILD WELFARE Pandemic Posed Challenges, but also Created Opportunities for Agencies to Enhance Future Operations, includes the result of a survey of state and local child welfare agencies on the challenges of the past year. The challenges included child protective services, the legal system, providing support for families and workers in foster
More than 500 organizations have signed a letter to Congress requesting that residential facilities that meet the new Family First Act “Qualified Residential Treatment Program” (QRTP) standards be exempt from being classified by Medicaid (CMS) as an Institution for Mental Diseases or “IMD.” The letter in part states: “(The Family First Prevention Services Act) FFPSA