Lots of action in child welfare the past couple of weeks! Here goes:
In Illinois, there’s a brand-new report out from a commission set up to reform the state’s delivery system for children’s mental health services.
Just a few weeks ago, Arizona’s new Governor named a critic of the child protection agency to lead the child protection agency. He’s out already.
I mentioned this briefly earlier this week, but it’s a big deal that the Biden Administration is loosening the licensing requirements for kinship foster caregivers. Now how about giving other types of foster carers, such as respite providers, such flexibility?
Here’s an update on the North Carolina lawsuit that accuses the state of “warehousing” children in foster care with behavioral health needs.
Using Medicaid to purchase groceries?
Almost half the children who end up in the emergency room due to a mental health crisis don’t get the follow-up they need, reports CNN.
Who should investigate child abuse: child protective services or law enforcement? In Florida, for the past 20-plus years, sheriffs’ offices have led those efforts in seven counties around the Tampa Bay area. That experiment is ending, and the Department of Children and Families is assuming the role. Critics have argued that law enforcement personnel were too quick to remove children from their homes.
New Mexico is revamping its child welfare agency. Here’s some background on the agency’s struggles. “We are embracing as professionals that this department is dysfunctional,” Lujan Grisham said.
In Kansas, the Legislature is considering a foster care bill of rights. Unlike those of most states, this bill has protections for both foster parents and children or youth in care.
Interesting move in the Oklahoma legislature to allow child abuse victims to file for a restraining order against their abuser, as is common in adult domestic violence cases.
As if the Texas federal child welfare litigation weren’t already strange enough, the Plaintiffs’ attorneys were rebuked this week for hiring $20,000/month lobbyists to seek more funding for child welfare at the Texas legislature.
Oklahoma’s legislature is considering an effort to centralize legal representation for parents and children in dependency cases.
“You don’t have to report a family to support a family,” says New York’s Office of Child and Family Services as it rolls out a revamped mandated reporter training curriculum
Good report on successes in OhioRISE, a coordinated care program directed at helping families whose children have complex behavioral care needs.
If you see any news, send it our way!