by Jerry Milner and David Kelly  -  November 6, 2006

Far too often the wrong examples drive child welfare policy and practice in the United States.

We see it time and time again in jurisdictions where there is a child fatality; a formulaic response.  Negative stories run, resignations are sought, blue ribbon commissions or task forces assembled, recommendations made.

Perhaps a new policy is created or law passed to hold folks more accountable—often based on the facts of the most recently publicized tragedy as opposed to data and what we know children and families need.  Commonly, there are corresponding spikes in the number of kids removed from their homes, everyone becomes scared and that fear is reflected in social work and legal decision making.

Attention then turns to recruiting more foster homes to place the increasing numbers of kids coming into foster care and we create a demand for which supply will never be adequate. Dockets and caseloads swell, workforce stress and turnover become endemic, and children and parents often do not receive services or supports to meet their needs. Such reactions bring tragic consequences and affect tens of thousands of lives annually—the unnecessary separation of children from their parents and ensuing trauma. The child welfare system often becomes stuck in this cycle, and it comes at enormous human and financial cost. Yet, we continue to respond in the same damaging and costly way, over and over again.

As a field we know the trauma children experience when separated from their parents is considered a powerful adverse childhood experience that can lead to long-term health, relational, and self-sufficiency challenges. It is also highly traumatic for parents and can trigger relapse or decompensation for those that may be in recovery or struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues. In other words, fear of making a wrong decision can lead to over removal. Over removal is a near guarantee of harm to a much larger population and perpetuates intergenerational cycles of disruption and maltreatment. This is a quieter, more far-reaching tragedy.

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Child Law Practice (CLP) Today, published by the ABA Center on Children and the Law, is a free online resource for child law practitioners. Practical articles tied to the ABA Center on Children and the Law's primary areas of work, and the work of our partners in the field, will be shared as they are published and may be accessed at www.childlawpractice.org. Past articles from the parent publication, Child Law Practice, are also freely accessible.

We want to share this quick 5-minute overview with you about the Child Safety: A Guide for Judges and Attorneys that was co-authored by Jennifer Renne and Theresa Roe-Lund. We use this textbook and the bench cards in our Safety Decision Making courses that we host in Louisiana. We offer a one-hour webinar and a 6 hour class periodically. Click for the video link.

As part of the 21^st National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (April 24-26, 2019), the Children's Bureau is accepting nominations for the Children's Bureau Champion Awards. Please see the attached for more information. We encourage you to send this information to your networks or submit a nomination. Nominations are due November 12^th, 2018. The Children’s Bureau Champion Awards honor those working to improve the overall health and well-being of our nation’s children and families. Awards will be given in the following five areas: preventing child maltreatment; reshaping foster care as a support to families; promoting child and family well-being; building community capacity; and supporting the workforce. More information, including how to submit a nomination, is available on the NCCAN website.  Please let Rosie Gomez, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  know if you have any questions.

Louisiana family services agency takes first steps to expanding foster care eligibility to age 21 - Acadiana Advocate - August 22, 2018

Department of Children and Family Services officials got what they wanted this summer when Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, passed a bill setting up a panel to study raising the age of foster care eligibility from 18 to 21. They were floored when Sen. Ryan Gatti, R-Bossier City, then successfully pushed a law mandating the change immediately, before the panel was even formed. Gatti's bill came "out of nowhere," said DCFS Secretary Marketa Walters, speaking Wednesday in an interview during breakout sessions at a community meeting in Lafayette.  Additional Resources: Information Gateway resource: Support Services for Youth in Transition: Life Skills. Read Article.  

The All Children - All Families Webinar Series kicks off tomorrow, August 1st at 3:00 PM ET with our introductory 90-minute offering on LGBTQ competency for child welfare professionals. This webinar, along with our two other core offerings on serving LGBTQ parents and LGBTQ youth, will be presented live monthly from August to March and available on demand. All three core webinars provide 1.5 CE credits from NASW at a cost of $40/webinar. Click here to register and learn more about purchasing CEs. Note: Employees at ACAF participating agencies are eligible for a 50% discount on CEs. If your agency participates in ACAF, ask your team’s ACAF leads for the discount code to submit at time of purchase. Not sure if your agency is eligible? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or request to participate today.

Looking for in-person staff training? ACAF’s 3-part training series is also eligible for NASW CE credit -- up to 18 hours! Learn more at hrc.im/acaf-training. Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign.

There is a newly updated APP available for Apple and Android devices that was developed by the Louisiana Children's Justice Act Taskforce. This APP has national, state and parish level resources for those who work in the field of child welfare. It also has the state's Safe Haven locations listed by parish. Please share the APP flyer so that more people begin using the APP. 

The growing opioid crisis has been declared a public health emergency. It's sparked a parallel crisis you rarely hear about: the impact on children neglected by addicted parents. More than one million American children now live with grandparents, primarily because of their parent's addiction to opioids and other drugs: heroin, crack, meth and alcohol. Grandparents are putting off retirement and plowing through savings to rescue their grandchildren from dangerous situations.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic-leaving-grandparents-to-raise-grandchildren/

CBS Sixty Minutes Report

May was first declared as National Foster Care Month in 1988. Since then, May has been a time to acknowledge the contributions of foster caregivers and the needs of children in foster care. In 2015, there were an estimated 427,910 children in foster care. A child can be removed from the home and placed in foster care for a variety of reasons including abuse or neglect, parent-child conflict, and the presence of serious physical or behavioral problems in the child that cannot be addressed in the home.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has compiled a list of helpful resources for birth parents, resource parents, (i.e. foster care, kinship care providers, and adoptive parents), youth, and child welfare and mental health professionals that address the needs of children and adolescents in foster care including mental health treatment, permanency planning, and the transition to independence for older foster care youth.

A list of external resources related to foster care is available here.

CliffsNotes on Family First Act, Part Three: Adoption, Foster Home Recruitment, Reunification and More (Commentary)

Chronicle of Social Change - February 15, 2018

The foster care prevention services and the limits on congregate care are the central reasons for this legislation. But there are several significant provisions that are included in the bill that became law.

Also: CliffsNotes on Family First Act, Part One: Services to Prevent Foster Care: https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/finance-reform/cliffsnotes-family-first-anatomy-massive-child-welfare-entitlement-reform

Also: CliffsNotes on Family First Act, Part Two: Limiting Support for Congregate Foster Care: https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/finance-reform/cliffsnotes-family-first-act-part-one-services-prevent-foster-care/29896

https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/finance-reform/cliffsnotes-family-first-act-part-three-adoption-foster-home-recruitment-reunification/29897

The 2018 Pelican Center for Children and Families catalog of training courses has been updated. The courses listed cover the full year and include both live and webinar training opportunities. Live courses are $25 per event and include lunch and materials. The webinars are free! Please sign up in advance. Walk-ins are not accepted as we have to order food in advance. Click below to access the attached pdf file. 

In early 2017, the American Bar Association officially passed a policy adopting the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education (LCFCE) Blueprint for Change: Education Success for Children in Foster Care (http://fostercareandeducation.org/AreasofFocus/BlueprintforChange.aspx) and the Legal Center for Youth Justice and Education (LCYJE) Blueprint for Change: Education Success for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System (https://www.jjeducationblueprint.org/). Both Blueprints were produced under the leadership of the ABA Center on Children and the Law through partnerships with the Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The ABA's endorsement of the two Blueprints means the nation's largest legal association stands behind the approaches contained in each Blueprint and supports their widespread adoption. The ABA calls on judges, lawyers, and other legal practitioners to advocate for improved policies and practices that support education success for court-involved youth. The ABA also calls on federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local legislatures, government agencies, and courts to adopt laws, regulations, policies, and court rules to implement the Blueprints. There are two documents. The first (PDF) is the ABA policy language. The second provides more information about the implications this ABA policy can have in the field broadly and for your individual jurisdictions.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges recently passed resolutions and policy statements on how to improve the lives of youth and families involved with juvenile or family courts. The resolutions address the needs of homeless youth and families, support a developmental approach to juvenile probation, and recognize the need for independent oversight of youth confinement facilities. The Council also released two bench cards: one with guidance on working with youth regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and one on applying principles of adolescent development in delinquency proceedings. In addition, the Council released a guide of principles and practices addressing custody and visitation.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families and Office for Civil Rights have compiled documents that provide guidance to ensure that child welfare agencies and state court systems are aware of their responsibilities to protect the civil rights of children and families in the child welfare system. The attached documents will address policy for Title VI, Disabilities, and Disproportionality issues.