Kinship Caregivers in D.C. Say Child Welfare Agency Owes Foster Payments

Three years ago, a Washington, D.C., woman received a distressed call with an urgent request: Her sister was being admitted to a psychiatric hospital and needed help caring for her then-5-year-old daughter. Could she take her in?

Facing financial insecurity herself, the woman — who asked to be identified by her initials due to the sensitive nature of her case — nevertheless wanted to help her sister. But K.H. was quickly overwhelmed by the challenges of a child with significant emotional needs who arrived from a struggling, unstable home.

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/kinship-caregivers-in-d-c-say-child-welfare-agency-owes-foster-payments/59410?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

NJ: NJ child protective services worker nabbed at Newark Airport with child pornography: prosecutors
PIX11 – October 01, 2021
Federal prosecutors say a child protective services worker faces child pornography charges after his luggage was searched at Newark Liberty International Airport after he returned from an overseas trip this week. The 55-year-old Kearny man had returned to the Unites States on Tuesday aboard a flight from the Dominican Republic.
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/new-jersey/child-protective-services-worker-child-pornography-charges/

US: Indian Child Welfare Act; Designated Tribal Agents for Service of Notice (Press release)
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs – October 04, 2021
The regulations implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act provide that Federally recognized Indian Tribes may designate an agent other than the Tribal Chairman for service of notice of proceedings under the Act. This notice includes the current list of designated Tribal agents for service of notice.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/04/2021-21464/indian-child-welfare-act-designated-tribal-agents-for-service-of-notice

Linnabary: The Case for The Family Security Act

US: Stimulus money update: Some states are sending checks. What to know (Includes video)
CNET – October 02, 2021
On a national level, advance monthly child tax credit payments (up to $300 a month for each child) are continuing to go out to millions of families through December, with the next coming Oct. 15. Lawmakers are working out a $3.5 trillion federal budget package that could provide aid in other ways. And some people may qualify for up to $1,400 in additional stimulus money if they had a baby this year, though that money won’t come until 2022.
https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/stimulus-money-update-some-states-are-sending-checks-what-to-know/

Canada: Reality of residential schools was always there for us to see: Cindy Blackstock (Opinion)
Canadian Lawyer – July 29, 2021
Cindy Blackstock says among the most frustrating aspects of reality for residential school survivors is knowing that the truth was always there for anyone to see. But those in a position of power to make decisions didn’t look. Blackstock, a member of the Gitxsan First Nation in British Columbia, is the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and a professor at McGill University. She has been one of the main drivers of the movement to challenge the inequitable provision of child and family services to First Nations. The human rights challenges she has fought for have resulted in hundreds of thousands of services being provided to First Nations children, youth and families.
https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/indigenous/reality-of-residential-schools-was-always-there-for-us-to-see-cindy-blackstock/358528

NY: How 3 FUEL Partners Are Rethinking Child Development
Robin Hood – September 30, 2021
FUEL for 50 is an Initiative of the Fund for Early Learning (FUEL), a $50 million dollar fund dedicated to promoting the early brain development of 0-3-year-olds living in poverty in New York City. Over the past five years, FUEL has supported a range of community partners, who have taught is the importance of meeting people where they are and elevating them to drive programming and decision making. Here we’ve highlighted three current partners, who we hope can inspire other organizations to see how their work supports early learning and apply to FUEL for 50.
https://robinhoodnyc.medium.com/how-3-fuel-partners-are-rethinking-child-development-e0aa92fa5319

US: Baldwin Joins Colleagues in Reintroducing Bipartisan Bill to Seek Healing for Stolen Native Children and Their Communities (Press release)
Office of Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator for Wisconsin – September 30, 2021
Today, on the National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools, United States Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) and Congressman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), to reintroduce The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act, legislation that seeks healing for stolen Native children and their communities. The bill would establish a formal commission to investigate, document, and acknowledge past injustices of the federal government’s Indian Boarding School Policies.
https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-joins-colleagues-in-reintroducing-bipartisan-bill-to-seek-healing-for-stolen-native-children-and-their-communities

US: Biden Gives Native Children’s Commission an Extension to Complete Report (Requires subscription)
Imprint – September 30, 2021
President Joe Biden has given a special commission a lengthy extension to complete a comprehensive report on all government and tribal programs that serve Indigenous children. While holding hearings around the country, the commission will evaluate, among other things, the impact of overlapping court jurisdiction on child welfare systems, barriers Native American tribes and Native Hawaiians face in using public and private grant resources, obstacles to charitable financial support, the validity and statistical significance of data on Native kids, and barriers to developing highly effective programs.
Also: Study of Native Children’s Justice Needs Will Likely Get a Two-Year Extension (Requires subscription): https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/study-of-native-childrens-justice-needs-will-likely-get-a-two-year-extension/58207

https://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/biden-gives-native-childrens-commission-an-extension-to-complete-report/59130

NY: New York Lawmakers Clash with State Courts over New Congregate Care Rule
Imprint – September 29, 2021
Nearly fifty New York state lawmakers have signed a letter describing “significant legal, policy, and fiscal concerns” with a new court rule increasing oversight of group homes for foster children, concerns echoed by the state’s largest local child welfare agency. The rule taking effect today was issued in response to tighter restrictions from the federal government on funding for congregate care and requires a more intensive review process before a foster child can be housed in an institution or facility. New York courts are now requiring additional court hearings, and specific clinical recommendations stating how a child’s needs are best served outside of a family home.
Also: New York State Intensifies Court Oversight of Group Care for Foster Youth: https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/new-york-state-intensifies-court-oversight-of-group-care-for-foster-youth/58645

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/new-york-lawmakers-clash-with-state-courts-over-new-congregate-care-rule/59255