I hope your Friday’s going well! Here’s the latest roundup of news stories about child welfare policy and practice.
Missouri is considering legislation to extend Medicaid for new mothers, giving them postpartum coverage for a year as compared with the current 60 days. There’s a trend toward this among the states, according to this article from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Georgia was among the states that adopted such an expansion, which policymakers hope will result in better maternal health.
Georgia’s Department of Community Health just released a report summarizing some of the work it has done in response to HB 1013, the state’s significant mental health reform bill. The report found that Medicaid managed care entities denied over half of requested services for Individual Psychotherapy, Peer Supports, Case Management, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), Individual Counseling, Family Outpatient Services - Family Counseling, and Psychiatric Treatment. Among the innovations mentioned: therapeutic foster care and better sharing of Medicaid claims data with child welfare authorities.
The CBS station in Boise, Idaho is running a series on the state’s child welfare system. Children, especially those with high needs, are living in short-term rentals. Additionally, almost 200 children were sent to out-of-state placements last year, many of them due to their specialized needs. And 17% of children in juvenile correctional facilities have spent at least some time in foster care.
Out in Montana, there’s a bill pending that will require a court order before removing a child and provide counsel for children in dependency cases. Here’s an article summarizing the legislation.
In Chicago, Cook County Guardian Charles Golbert has sued the state child welfare agency alleging that it leaves children and youth who have committed no crime in juvenile detention because the agency lacks beds for them. And we thought hoteling was a problem!
Tennessee’s child welfare system remains under fire in the media. On the juvenile justice front, a Republican state representative “is preparing legislation prohibiting interviews or interrogations of children without the presence of legal counsel, parent, guardian or custodian. In addition, children would be told of their constitutional rights to legal representation when taken into custody, and a video recording of any interviews would be made.”
Townhall has a four-part series on a couple who adopted two children from Georgia’s foster care system and then, according to law enforcement, sexually abused and exploited them. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. The allegations are outrageous, but they are echoed by mainstream media reports.
It’s legislative season here in Georgia and in several other states. If you are aware of child welfare legislative reforms or funding requests being introduced that you think folks would be interested in, please let me know!