ARTICLE TAG

Finance Reform

12/22/2018

Ohio Child Welfare Leaders Support Federal Legislation to Extend the Title IV-E Waiver

Imagine being a child protection agency director 20 years ago and making a bold decision to use the flexibility that comes with capped federal dollars to keep kids from entering foster care – instead of using the funding only as intended, to remove children from struggling families and place them into the system.

Youth Services Insider

2/6/2018

Family First Act, Major Foster Care Finance Reform Bill, Included in House’s Initial Spending Deal

A continuing appropriations bill released last night by House Republican leadership includes enactment of the Family First Prevention Services Act, a bill that failed to pass the Senate in 2016 and would significantly alter the federal entitlement for child welfare services.

Former Children's Bureau head Jerry Milner.

11/6/2017

Trump’s Top Child Welfare Official Speaks

In June, the Trump administration hired Jerry Milner to lead the federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees federal child welfare funding and policy. The Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) was established in 1977 and oversees the Family and Youth Services Bureau as well as the much larger Children’s Bureau, which was created by President William Howard Taft back in 1912.

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10/19/2017

Senate Finance Investigation A Possible Precursor to Renewed Family First Push

The Senate Finance Committee quickly followed the release of its report on privatization of foster care on Wednesday with legislation that tracked many of the recommendations made in the report. You can read all about the report here, and the bill here.

Youth Services Insider

5/26/2017

Updated: Amid Cuts to Youth Services, Trump Includes Big Increase to Child Welfare Entitlement

Note: CLICK HERE for an updated Trump Budget Request chart, which includes the 2017 appropriations figures from the recent omnibus deal reached in early May. President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal includes a slate of deep cuts and eliminations of programs aimed at serving youth and families, but includes a hefty increase in the amount spent on an entitlement for foster care and adoption assistance.

5/6/2017

You Can’t Fix Child Welfare Spending with Distorted Data and Doublethink

In 1984, George Orwell defined “doublethink” as holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting them both. In child welfare, for example, we have been told for decades that child welfare systems don’t take away children because their families are poor.

    4/12/2017

    Foster Youth Jobs Bill Introduced in Both Chambers

    A bill aimed at incentivizing employers to hire current and former foster youth has been introduced in the House and Senate. The Improved Employment Outcomes For Foster Youth Act (H.R. 2060 and S.

    2/1/2017

    IV-E Change Needed, But Not in Block Grant Form

    Much attention has been paid recently, and alarm bells sounded, at the expressed plans of the Trump administration and Congress to eliminate programs and cut back on entitlements that support the poorest and most vulnerable American families and children.

    Youth Services Insider

    12/30/2016

    A Look Back at 2016: The Year in Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare

    The sun will soon set on a year of great upheaval in the American cultural fabric. The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions. It seemed like a different famous musician or thespian died every day.