Attorneys

Modernizing Minor Guardianship in State Courts

More than 4% of all children live in kinship care arrangements, where relatives are responsible for children who may or may not have a living biological parent. One such arrangement is commonly known as minor guardianship, where caregivers can petition … Read More

Capacity Building Center for Tribes Prevention Brief

Introduction Prevention-centered practices are rooted in the belief that a child’s connection to their family and tribal communities keeps the community whole. Honoring our stories, Indigenous ways of knowing, and belief systems when developing prevention practices can help programs increase … Read More

Advocating For Reasonable Efforts For LGBTQIA+ Youth In Foster Care

Attorneys representing children and youth in foster care cases have an affirmative duty to advance equity for their clients. This responsibility is particularly important when providing legal representation to LGBTQIA+ youth, who experience disproportionate and disparate child welfare outcomes. NACC … Read More

Fostering Responsible Tech Use

Balancing the Benefits and Risks Among Public Child Welfare Agencies Across the country, child welfare agencies work with over 390,000 youth in foster care each year by temporarily placing them in foster homes, facilitating adoption if parental rights are terminated, … Read More

Timely Health Care for Children and Youth in Foster Care: Getting Started on Quality Improvement

This video provides an overview of how Medicaid and child welfare agencies can start a QI project to improve timeliness of health services for children and youth entering foster care. The Model for Improvement is built on small tests of … Read More

Adoption and Guardianship for Children in Kinship Foster Care

The laws dictating how adoption and guardianship are granted, by which court, and what those options entail are developed at the state and tribal levels, so the intricacies for obtaining these legal relationships differ. The Brief The brief provides general … Read More

Clearinghouse Approves New Mental Health, Substance Abuse Programs for Family First Act Funding

Last month, the clearinghouse that greenlights foster care prevention services approved several iterations of a mental intervention known as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, as well as a positive reinforcement approach to treating substance abuse. The clearinghouse was established in relation to … Read More

Child Welfare Law Career Guide

Introduction From the moment a child is removed from their parents and placed in foster care, everything is at stake — their home, school, community, and relationships with family and friends . Although the child welfare system was designed to … Read More

Children in Residential Treatment Facilities Face Multiple Risks: Senate Report

Children who are in residential treatment facilities are at risk for sexual and emotional abuse, physical restraint and overmedication, a new Senate report found. The report, conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, … Read More

The Kids Are Not Alright: A Look into the Absence of Laws Protecting Children in Social Media

INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITION OF THE ISSUE In the age of social media, children do not have the same privacy at home as previous generations. Imagine a child growing up in 2023, going to school, playing with friends, and getting into … Read More