US: & Canada: Forced adoptions to promote assimilation decimated Indigenous families, left deep scars
Oregonian – January 16, 2022
Rose Anne, who would be raised by a Glenside, Pennsylvania, dentist and his wife, became a child of the country’s American Indian adoption era, a decadeslong forced assimilation of Native children first established under the Indian Adoption Project, which started in 1958 and evolved to include 50 private and public placement agencies across the United States and Canada, where the so-called Sixties Scoop was coined to describe the mass removal of children from Native homes. During the next 20 years, almost 13,000 Native children would be adopted.
https://www.oregonlive.com/nation/2022/01/forced-adoptions-to-promote-assimilation-decimated-indigenous-families-left-deep-scars.html

US: Kids in Foster Care Belong in Families, Not Modern Day Orphanages (Opinion)
Imprint – January 12, 2022
During the Great Depression, at the height of the “orphanage era” of child welfare in the United States, 144,000 children lived in those settings. By the 1950s, the system had begun a decades-long shift towards the use of foster homes and today, the American orphanage is largely considered “extinct.” But is it? Our child welfare system still places tens of thousands of kids in institutional care every year. Nearly 44,000 children, or around 10% of U.S. kids in foster care, are in institutional placements.
Also: Children in Institutional Care: Delayed Development and Resilience: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4130248/
Also: AFCARS Report 27: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/afcarsreport27.pdf

https://imprintnews.org/foster-care/kids-in-foster-care-belong-families-not-modern-day-orphanages/61937

US: The Child Welfare System Fails to Provide Affirming Care and Protection to Transgender Youth (Opinion)
Imprint – January 12, 2022
Despite the national legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015 and legal protections for LGBTQ+ folks in the workforce in 2020, many LGBTQ+ youth still face discrimination in their public, professional and private lives. Many youth are still thrown out of their homes after coming out as LGBTQ+ to their families. In addition to experiencing abandonment from their families, transgender youth quickly face various obstacles such as academic challenges, employment discrimination, homelessness, unsafe work environments, substance use and neglect from the foster care system.
https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/child-welfare-system-fails-transgender-youth/61693

US: 1 in 100 kids lose legal ties to their parents by the time they turn 18. This new bill aims to help
PBS – December 30, 2021
When the Clinton administration passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997, it intended to drastically reduce the number of children stuck for long periods of time in foster care. One of the safeguards it put in place was a timeline: If a child was in the foster care system for 15 of 22 consecutive months, states would be required to file for termination of parental rights — with an exception made if the child welfare agency provides a “compelling reason” as to why the parent should retain their rights, though a judge would have the power to overturn that appeal.
Also: 21st Century Children and Families Act: https://bit.ly/32KUjjN

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/1-in-100-kids-lose-legal-ties-to-their-parents-by-the-time-they-turn-18-this-new-bill-aims-to-help

US: COVID-19 has taken many children’s parents. Their relative caregivers face host of hurdles (Includes video)
USA Today – December 31, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has left tens of thousands of children without a parent or primary caregiver. Stepping into that void are grandparents, aunts, cousins – kinship caregivers – now facing their first new year as a new family unit. Public health researchers know traumatized children often fare better when they live with a relative instead of a foster parent they don’t know. But most of these families, experts say, are “informally” taking in a child without becoming a legal guardian, adopting the child or becoming official foster parents.
Also: At least 140K US children have lost caregivers to COVID-19. Children of color have taken the brunt of it. (May require subscription): https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/10/07/covid-19-children-color-account-majority-orphaned-kids/5992853001

https://news.yahoo.com/covid-19-taken-many-childrens-100049437.html

Uganda: Orphanhood declines with rise in HIV antiretroviral therapy and male circumcision (Press release)
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health – December 29, 2021
Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found marked decreases in orphanhood particularly double orphanhood, among adolescents in Rakai, Uganda, corresponding with the availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) beginning in 2004 and of male medical circumcision in 2007. Until now, little had been known about the contribution of HIV combination prevention including ART and male circumcision to recent trends in orphanhood. The study is published in the Lancet HIV. Orphanhood declined from 52 percent in 2001-02 to 23 percent by 2016-18 while double orphanhood declined from 20 percent to 3 percent. The largest decline occurred in double-orphanhood (83 percent), followed by paternal orphanhood (44 percent), and maternal orphanhood (29 percent).
Also: HIV combination prevention and declining orphanhood among adolescents, Rakai, Uganda, 2001-18: an observational community cohort study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(21)00275-7/fulltext
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/938961

US: What you need to know about the adoption process (Includes video)
In The Know – December 29, 2021
While adoption takes time and patience, there are a few important things to know that will help in the beginning of the adoption journey. From the cost of adoption to all the different ways you can adopt, here are 5 things you need to know about the adoption process.
https://www.intheknow.com/post/what-you-need-to-know-adoption-process/

US: Top Stories of 2021: A Big Year for Parental Rights
Imprint – December 29, 2021
This year saw fervent discussion and some action on protecting the rights of parents who find themselves involved with the child welfare system. Early legal counsel, the termination of parental rights, and ideas around peer support were among the key issues covered by The Imprint in 2021. In interviews with lawyers, family members and child welfare advocates in at least six states, it’s clear that child welfare timelines have imposed unfair burdens and an unreasonable expectation for parents who – even under normal circumstances – have difficulty complying with court orders to get their kids back.
https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/top-stories-2021-parental-rights/61413

PA: Sometimes, finding foster care or adoptive parents for children can be a family affair
Philadelphia Inquirer – December 26, 2021
Philadelphia is well ahead of the national average in kinship placement. Fifty-one percent of children put into dependent care and 57% of youngsters in family foster care in Philadelphia were placed with kin, according to City Department of Human Services most recent numbers, compared with 32% nationally.
https://www.inquirer.com/life/adoption-kinships-drugs-dhs-foster-care-20211226.html