The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center on Children and the Law recently released its Youth in Court toolkit. The toolkit provides a basic framework of adolescent brain science, a legal overview of laws relating to youth engagement in case planning and court hearings, and tips for attorneys and judges to engage youth and support their
On Thursday, September 26, the U.S. Census Bureau’s released the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS) detailing information on American social and economic measures such as jobs and occupations, educational attainment, and other topics. The nation’s Gini index, which measures income inequality, grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 last year, according to figures released Thursday
Child Trends released a report, sponsored by Youth Villages, on “Funding Supports and Services for Young People Transitioning from Foster Care” to address existing funding supports and services that do not adequately cover the types of intensive supports and skill development that many young people transitioning from foster care need. Nineteen child welfare leaders across
On Thursday, September 26, the Senate Committee on Appropriations unanimously approved the FY2020 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bill (S.2584) including funding for the $7.6 billion for the 2020 Decennial Census (an increase of $3.7 billion). Appropriations to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
The Senate gave an ok to HR 4378, a Continuing Resolution (CR) to provide funding for FY 2020 from October 1 through November 21, 2019. Both Houses will be off for the next two weeks for the combination of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Columbus Day. It is hoped that the additional time will allow
Last week, the House Financial Services Committee unanimously voted to send “The Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (H.R. 4300) (FSHO) to the House for a full vote. FSHO would give preference in housing vouchers to youth transitioning from foster care. The bill, which has bipartisan support, led by Congressman Mike Turner (D-OH) and Steve Stivers
On September 20, 2019 a Federal District Court in Maryland rejected a challenge to Maryland’s recent law that prohibits conversion therapy of minor children. A Maryland psychotherapist, Christopher Doyle, claimed that the law violated his religious freedom. The plaintiff was supported by the Liberty Counsel based in Orlando Florida. Conversion therapy generally seeks to change
Last week the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (Approps Labor H) held hearings to discuss family separation policy and the conditions of children placed in the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) facilities based on the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, “Care Provider
Capitol Hill is working on a bipartisan deal that is intended to assist states to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation would give states an added $500 million in child welfare funds, allowing states to spend more flexibly on the three categories of evidence-based services and create a guarantee of
On Friday, September 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance on whether or not the new classification of Quality Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) will fall under the Medicaid classification as an Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMDs). There has been great concern that the new QRTP standards would cause these same child