Senate Caucus on Foster Youth Discusses Adoption Disruption and Dissolution

Shaquita Ogletree On Tuesday, November 27, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held a congressional briefing to discuss the issue of disrupted and dissolved adoptions. The event was a part of a series of Washington National Adoption Month events this year. The discussion focused on estimated ten to twenty-five percent of adoptions disrupted before being

NACAC, VFA & Center on American Progress Report on LGBTQ Issues

Voice for Adoption (VFA), the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) and the Center on American Progress have released a new study, Welcoming All Families that analyses discrimination against LGBTQ youth in foster care and discrimination against the recruitment of foster and adoptive parents. The report finds that although same-sex parents are not banned

Report Outlines Challenges of Young People Exiting Foster Care

On Tuesday, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released, Fostering Youth Transitions analyzing that status and outcomes for young people exiting foster care. Fostering Youth Transitions uses data collected across 50 states to assess how young people fare as they transition from foster care to adulthood. Key points raised by the authors include: • Among older

CWLA Submits Comments Opposing Flores Regulation

On Monday, October 29, CWLA submitted comments on the Administration’s proposed regulation that would overturn or supersede the 1997 Flores settlement. On Friday, September 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a federal register notice that proposes, through the regulation process, to amend a court

Panel Discusses Progress on Education and Children in Foster Care

Shaquita Ogletree On Monday, October 1, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held a congressional briefing to discuss the Every Student Success Act (ESSA) and School Stability for Foster Youth. According to the most recent report from AFCARS, there were over 260,000 school-aged children in foster care, some of the nation’s most educationally disadvantaged students.

Medicaid for Former Foster Youth to Age 26 Gets Fixed, So Does JJ Medicaid

The agreed to legislation on opioids (see below), HR 6, fixes a glitch in the ACA that mandates that any young person that ages out of foster care is covered by Medicaid to age 26. Through the work of Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA), the provision was included in the House version of the opioids legislation

Capitol Hill Briefing Exposes the Problems Created By Gender Discrimination

CWLA joined a number of groups including American Unity Fund, Family Equality Council, FosterClub, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, National Association of Social Workers, PFLAG National and Voice for Adoption to sponsor a Senate and a House briefing, How Discrimination in Foster Care Harms Foster Youth. The two briefing included remarks by Ernesto Olivares, San

IG Report: Treatment Planning & Medication Monitoring Lacking Foster Care

A new report by the HHS Inspector General (IG), released last week, Treatment Planning and Medication Monitoring Were Lacking for Children in Foster Care Receiving Psychotropic Medication was critical of health care services and treatment of children in foster care as it relates to the use of psychotropic medication. The report by the in-house investigator

CWLA Urges Congressional Action on JJDPA Reauthorization

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 5, CWLA sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging the passage of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA). CWLA joins the Act 4 Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) campaign in circulating a letter a day urging Congress to act on the JJDPA reauthorization soon. Act4JJ is composed of

Panel Focuses on DACA Extensions and Protections

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) hosted a Capitol Hill briefing featuring immigration and education experts to discuss the impact of the Administration’s efforts rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has had on students and teachers over the past year. DACA was created under President Obama in 2012 and on September

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