NJ: Passaic County CASA, a nonprofit devoted to child welfare, changes its name (Includes video) (May require subscription)

NorthJersey.com – April 04, 2024

A local nonprofit founded 16 years ago as Passaic County CASA officially changed its name this week to better reflect its mission to serve child welfare. Under its new identity, Child Focus, the organization headquartered in an industrial park off Hamburg Turnpike, will continue to run its three core programs. It is known primarily for recruiting and training advocates of foster children. Those volunteers are often the only stable figures the children have to rely on, and they are regarded as the eyes and ears of judges who make life-altering custody decisions.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/wayne/2024/04/04/passaic-county-casa-wayne-nj-child-focus/73147307007/

US: New Beginnings For Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Grand Magazine – April 08, 2024

Regardless of the grandparent’s age or how long they end up caring for the child when their grandbabies come into their care full-time, it is often unexpected and overwhelming. New Beginnings! To many this phrase resonates as a time for fresh starts, new year’s resolutions, or perhaps even a planned career change. But across the U.S. millions of grandparents have faced a different kind of new beginning, when they unexpectedly stepped up to raise their grandchildren. A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that in 2021, 3.3 percent of adults aged 30 and over lived with their grandchildren. While the ages of these grandparents vary greatly, the population is getting older on the whole and grandparents are raising their children for longer periods of time. In 2021, 60.1 percent were 60 and over (an increase from 46.8 percent in 2012). Grandparents were more likely to be responsible for their grandchildren for 5 years or longer in 2021 compared to 2012. Regardless of the grandparent’s age or how long they end up caring for the child when their grandbabies come into their care full-time, it is often unexpected and overwhelming.

New Beginnings For Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

US: Foster children deprived of benefits: How a loophole affects the most vulnerable (Includes video)

KFMB – April 07, 2024

Katrina White remembers just how determined her parents were to see her, and all her siblings, go to college. That never happened. She lost her father when she was nine years older. Then, she lost her mother, too, in 2013. After living initially with an older sister, White spent most of the next seven years in group homes throughout Southern California. She said it had never occurred to her that she would end up in foster care: “I didn’t even know what foster care was.” Ian Marks, who grew up in New Orleans, was in foster care for eight years. Anthony Jackson (known as A.J.) spent his teenage years as a ward of the state of Minnesota. Justin Kasieta, who grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was in foster care for about three years. Each of these young people ended up in the care of the state for the worst possible reason: the death of one or both parents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5B3C8-pW1o

NY: NY Law Would Scale Back Practice of Billing Parents for Foster Care

Imprint – March 13, 2024

Across the country, impoverished parents whose kids are removed from their homes following allegations of abuse and neglect are later stuck with the bill for foster care – a practice critics say makes it harder for families to reunify. A bill now before the New York Legislature aims to reduce the number of low-income families saddled with such debt, mirroring similar reforms nationwide. “Every year, thousands of parents whose children have been involuntarily removed to foster care are required to contribute to the cost of their child’s stay in the foster system,” Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal stated in an email to The Imprint. “Not only does this create a financial burden for thousands of families, it actually extends the amount of time parents and children are apart, as poverty-related conditions are among the greatest contributors to the child welfare system.” Under Senate Bill 7054, which is sponsored by Ron Kim in the Assembly, collecting child support from parents with kids in foster care would be far less frequent. Lawmakers Kim and Hoylman-Sigal said they introduced the bill after hearing concerns from social workers and family law attorneys and reviewing research that shows tracking down child support payments from struggling parents costs taxpayers more than is ultimately retrieved.

Also: Assembly Bill A4027: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/A4027

NY Law Would Scale Back Practice of Billing Parents for Foster Care

US: Kin Guardianship Spending Has Skyrocketed Since 2010 (Requires subscription)

Imprint – March 21, 2024

Usage of federal funds to keep foster youth with relatives and other kin has soared in the past decade, according to initial survey results released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation this month.

Kin Guardianship Spending Has Skyrocketed Since 2010

US: ‘We don’t have resources left.’ Grandparents are giving up retirement to raise their grandchildren (Includes video)

Market Watch – March 19, 2024

Mercedes Bristol was 57, divorced and planning a trip to Alaska with a friend of 40 years when she became the primary caregiver for her five grandchildren, who at the time ranged from 3 months to 9 years in age. Alone, with no help, “I had a decision to make,” Bristol said. She navigated a gauntlet of lawyers, Child Protective Services and the courts to formally adopt all five grandchildren and get them away from their parents’ substance use and neglect. At first, the five kids slept on her floor, because she had no extra beds. She charged everything she needed to buy for them on her credit cards. She cried in church, surrounded by her grandchildren. “I said, ‘I need all hands on deck. I don’t need prayers. We need people to be the hands and feet of Jesus,'” Bristol said. But then, Bristol said, God told her to stop being a victim. She hunkered down and got to work raising her grandkids.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/grandparents-are-giving-up-retirement-to-raise-their-grandchildren-0645af6b

US: Bill would fund National Parent & Youth Helpline (Includes audio)

Public News Service – March 25, 2024

The new National Parent & Youth Helpline has already taken 6,700 calls, texts and live chats since its inception in January, and now the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill to fund it permanently. Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., introduced the bill last Friday. Lisa Pion-Berlin, president and CEO of Parents Anonymous, which runs the helpline, noted how the service has been helping. “We have calls about gun violence. We have calls about suicide. We have calls about stress,” Pion-Berlin outlined. “We have calls about kids’ learning challenges. We have kids who feel lonely and depressed. We know youth suicide is up 20%.” The nation’s more than 174 million parents and youths up to age 25 can call or text the helpline at 855-427-2736 to reach a trained counselor for help with emotional issues. People can also join the live chat on the website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Also: The National Parent & Youth Helpline is here for you!: https://www.nationalparentyouthhelpline.org/
Also: H.R.7812 – To Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a grant program to support the establishment of a national, toll-free telephone helpline to provide information and assistance to parents, caregivers, and youth to prevent child abuse and strengthen families.: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7812

https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2024-03-25/childrens/bill-would-fund-national-parent-and-youth-helpline/a89494-1

NY: Precious Dreams Foundation Partners With NYC ACS to Create New ‘Comfort Shop’ For Youth in Foster Care (Press release)

Precious Dreams Foundation – March 25, 2024

Precious Dreams Foundation- the organization that provides sleep support, teaches healthy coping mechanisms, and helps youth in foster care and homeless shelters uncover paths to fostering their dreams- and the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) announced a new “Comfort Shop” for youth in foster care at the Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center. The Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center is a child-friendly facility that operates 24 hours a day, temporarily housing children and youth who are awaiting foster care placement.

https://rivercountry.newschannelnebraska.com/story/50611446/precious-dreams-foundation-partners-with-nyc-acs-to-create-new-comfort-shop-for-youth-in-foster-care