ARTICLE TAG

family preservation

11/15/2021

Racial Justice Advocates Issue Plan to Reimagine LA County’s Child Welfare System

Khari Jones and his daughter Fari Love Jones remain connected despite a terrifying entanglement with local authorities shortly after the baby’s birth in June. Photo courtesy of Khari Jones and Kayla Love
A coalition of Los Angeles County racial justice advocates, lawyers for parents in the child welfare system, reproductive rights groups and community-based organizations is calling on elected officials to implement wide-ranging reforms to the local foster care system. 

2/9/2021

If Adoption and Safe Families Act Can’t Be Repealed, Here’s How to At Least Make it Better

A new memorandum from the federal government’s top child welfare leaders argues that the field has been getting one of its most important goals — permanency — all wrong. After examining the latest research — including new analyses of federal data conducted by the U.S.

Vivek Sankaran.

12/23/2020

Toward Relentless Support of Families

Poet David Whyte writes, “Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take.” I’m thinking of Whyte’s words this morning as my client – a mother who for years has battled an addiction to drugs – prepares to enter an in-patient drug treatment program, days before Christmas.

Youth Services Insider

4/2/2020

Family First Clearinghouse OKs Homebuilders, Popular Family Preservation Model

Lost in the shuffle of the obvious and only news story going, the federal Prevention Services Clearinghouse has approved Homebuilders, a family preservation model with a large track record of success, for new federal funding under the Family First Prevention Services Act. 

The coronavirus pandemic meant more kids stayed in the child welfare system than the previous year, according to an AP analysis.

3/11/2020

Coronavirus: What Child Welfare Systems Need to Think About

The coronavirus has dominated headlines across the country as the federal government and state leaders scramble to pull together broad plans of attack for testing, quarantining and treating those with severe symptoms.

Youth Services Insider
Bipartisan Gun Control Bill: Implications for Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice

12/17/2019

Year-End Spending Bill Includes Hundreds of Millions for Family First Act

The nearly 2,000-page spending bill released yesterday, which is expected to be approved by both chambers of Congress, will include legislation that seeks to incentivize and ease the path for states on implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act.

    Youth Services Insider

    11/26/2019

    Early Family First Adopters Eye Motivational Interviewing as a Casework Improvement Strategy

    As we covered on Monday, you can add Motivational Interviewing (MI) as the tenth model of intervention approved by a clearinghouse for use under the Family First Prevention Services Act. It was hardly a surprise, since it’s received top ratings from other clearinghouses on child welfare services.

    Youth Services Insider
    MaryLee

    11/5/2019

    Family First Transitional Bill Set to Move, with One Heartwarming Addition

    In late September, Youth Services Insider reported on a draft bill floating around that would offer cash and some easing on restrictions to help states more quickly implement the Family First Prevention Services Act, a major overhaul of federal child welfare funding that passed in 2018 and mostly took effect last month.

    10/31/2019

    How Kentucky Brought the Community in on Family First Act

    Social workers, educators, judges and prosecutors, nonprofit leaders, state legislators, and many other advocates for Kentucky kids and families traveled near and far during the summer to learn more about what implementation of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act will mean for families in the Commonwealth.