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| Greetings NACHSA Members: |
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Thank you for the positive reviews of our new e-format! From now on, the NACHSA e-alerts are best read using HTML. This update provides you with human services resources that have crossed my screen in recent weeks, as well as a request from a NACHSA member on county health safety net programs. Future newsletters will update you on current congressional activity, as well as the nominations process for the NACHSA awards program. Winners will be announced at NACo's Legislative Conference in March 2008. |
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| Child Welfare Issues |
Foster Care Rate Survey: As many of you know, Children's Rights, the National Foster Parent Association and the University of Maryland School of Social Work recently released a new report entitled, Hitting the M.A.R.C.: Establishing Foster Care Adequate Minimum Rates for Children. The report calculated the state-by-state costs of supporting children in foster care. and proposes a new standard rate for each state to use in fulfilling the federal requirement to provide foster parents with payments to cover the basic needs of children in foster care, including food, shelter, clothing and school supplies. In 28 states current rates would have to be increased by more than 50 percent to hit the foster care MARC.
Foster Parent Recruitment Study Released: Earlier this month, The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) today announces the release of its new report on federal foster care financing entitled "Parent Recruitment and Training: A Crucial Neglected Child Welfare Strategy," which calls upon states to invest more in parent recruitment and training. According to the report, nearly 25 percent of foster families quit each year, and up to 50 percent of foster families quit within one year of their first placement. The 15 page report claims that while 22 percent of children in foster care are waiting to be adopted, the foster care financing system allocates only 1.3 percent of available federal child welfare funds on adoptive and foster parent recruitment and training services.
Keeping Children Safe When Parents Are Arrested: A coordinated response involving child welfare services and law enforcement may be an effective way to ensure that children remain safe when their parents are arrested. A new report, Keeping Children Safe When Their Parents Are Arrested: Local Approaches That Work, examines the efforts of four California communities to develop protocols for such a coordinated response.
While the approaches developed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Santa Clara County vary in the details, they all have resulted in a higher degree of collaboration between law enforcement and child welfare services. The benefits of these approaches, as identified by participating law enforcement and child welfare agencies, include:
- Reduction in traumatic effects of parental arrest on children
- Reduction in law enforcement officer time at the arrest scene
- Increase in goodwill between law enforcement agencies, parents, and the community
- Reduction in the number of children taken into formal child welfare services custody and reduction in costs associated with formal placement
- Enhanced relationships between law enforcement and child welfare services
The report was written by Ginny Puddefoot and Lisa K. Foster and published by the California State Library, California Research Bureau.
Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides minimum standards that states must incorporate in their statutory definitions of child abuse and neglect. This tool allows you to compare your state's child abuse laws with others.
More Kinship Care Sign-ons Needed!: As mentioned a few weeks ago,NACHSA has joined with the Alliance for Children and Families, Center for Law and Social Policy, Child Welfare League of America, Children's Defense Fund, and Generations United to circulate a letter to Congress to organizations with an interest in the well-being of children for their support. The letter endorses the Kinship Caregiver Support Act (H.R. 2188, S. 661), legislation now before Congress that would provide assistance to relatives who become the legal guardians of children in foster care.
We hope that you will lend your support by signing your county on to this letter.To sign on, please email your name, organization (as it should be listed), address, phone, and email address to Melanie McGraw at kinship@acf-unca.org. |
| Health |
| Medicaid Citizenship Fact Sheet Updated: Families USA has updated its Medicaid Citizenship documentation fact sheet to reflect the potential changes that were included in the SCHIP reauthorization bill.
Medicaid Enrollment Declines: Enrollment in Medicaid declined for the first time in nearly a decade, according to a new 50-state survey released this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU). The survey reports a 0.5 percent enrollment decline in fiscal year (FY) 2007 driven primarily by two factors. States reported that the new citizenship documentation requirements were causing significant delays in processing applications, affecting mostly individuals already eligible for the program. State officials also cited the good economy and lower unemployment for reducing enrollment. A two page fact sheet is also available.
Child and Youth Emergency Mental Health Care: Mental health-related emergency department visits range from two percent to five percent of all hospital emergency room visits for children and youth. This brief is from the National Center for Children in Poverty and outlines mental health services in emergency rooms for children. Authors provide an overview of the challenges with mental health related emergency room visits and offer recommendations for better serving children and youth in this environment. |
| NACHSA News |
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NACHSA Member Request on County Health Care Models
Uma Ahluwalia, NACHSA member and Montgomery County, MD Director of Health and Human Services has asked for models of county safety nets for the uninsured. During the past two years, the County has covered 18,000 lives through a volunteer community-based clinic model. They believe that they need to reach an additional 22,000 lives and are searching for other systems of care that might have been supported and implemented in other counties around the country. She would appreciate any information or insights NACHSA members may have. Please contact her at uma.ahluwalia@montgomerycountymd.gov or 240 777 1266 if you have information to provide.
New NACHSA Executive Committee Ratified: The NACHSA Board met last week during the County Welfare Directors Association of California's annual conference and ratified the vote of the general membership for the following slate of executive officers: President, Darryl Martin, Clark County, NV; Vice-President, Jo Weber, Sonoma County, CA; Secretary, Bill Brumfield, Hennepin County, MN, and Treasurer & NACo Board Representative, Bob Suver, Clark County, OH. Congratulations to all of you! | |
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Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
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