Sen. Grassley Circulates 'Dear Colleague' to Support Subsidized Guardianship: Ranking Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has sent a letter to his colleagues requesting cosponsors for his bill (S. 3038) to reauthorize the adoption incentive program and to establish a state option to draw down federal funding for subsidized guardianship programs. While the bill in its present form would provide payments to only those relative caregivers meeting IV-E licensing requirements, support for federal kinship care subsidies by the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee is a significant step forward for the issue.

NGA Sends Letter Supporting Child Support Restorations: Last week, the National Governors' Association sent a letter to the House and Senate leadership urging passage of the Child Support Protection Act (H.R. 1386; S. 803). The bill would restore the cuts made under the Deficit Reduction Act. Click here to view a list of the cosponsors.

Study Demonstrates Kinship Care Benefits: Last week, NACHSA staff attended a briefing which released groundbreaking research from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that confirms that children in kinship families have more stability and demonstrate fewer behavioral problems than children placed with non-relative foster families. Click here to access the PowerPoint presentation made at the briefing.

Information Packet: Relative Placements:  This ten-page document from the Hunter College School of Social Work provides a quick look at relative placements, including facts and statistics, policies and legislation, and some model programs.

Medicaid Managed Care for Children in Child Welfare: Children in the child welfare system have an extremely high prevalence of physical and behavioral health problems. This issue brief examines the complex physical and behavioral health care needs and associated costs for children in child welfare and outlines critical opportunities and challenges within Medicaid to better manage care for this high-risk, high-cost population. Page four of the brief contains a state-by-state map outlining how each state has designed its program.  

RAND, Casey Release Report on Economic Benefits of Early Childhood Supports: Casey Family Programs and the RAND Corporation have released a new paper about the importance of early childhood supports. The paper documents that the money invested in supports for young children, particularly those in foster care, will be recouped later in terms of a reduction in the amount the country spends to support them as adults. Download RAND's five-page research brief here. A table on page three outlines benefit-cost ratios for selected early childhood programs.

USDA FY 2007 Food Assistance Report: This six-page USDA report examines recent trends in federal food assistance programs.  Federal expenditures for USDA's food assistance programs totaled almost $54.3 billion in fiscal 2007, an increase of two percent over 2006. The five largest food assistance programs-the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, WIC, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the School Breakfast Program-accounted for 95 percent of USDA's food assistance expenditures in fiscal 2007.

Federal Children's Bureau Grants Library Available:  The HHS Children's Bureau awards discretionary grants through a competitive peer-review process to state and local agencies; universities; community-based organizations; and other nonprofit and for-profit groups. The Discretionary Grants Library is an online tool that allows you to search for and view Children's Bureau program announcements and/or information related to specific grant projects, searchable by state and year.

NACo Requests NACHSA Member Innovations and Successes in Aging Out Foster Care Services: The National Association of Counties has requested NACHSA's help in identifying best practices in serving youth who are emancipating from the foster care system. The information will be collected and made available to NACHSA members and other county officials. To provide information on your program, click here. This effort will be highlighted at the upcoming NACo Annual Conference, July 11-15.  

NACo to Hold Methamphetamine Prevention Forum, July 24: NACo and the New Mexico Association of Counties will sponsor a Methamphetamine Prevention Forum in Bernalillo County, New Mexico on July 24th encouraging participants from New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California and Texas to participate.  This is the first of several forums that will convene and educate county elected officials and their community treatment and prevention partners on effective strategies to reduce methamphetamine use.  The forums are designed for community teams of county elected officials and local substance abuse treatment or law enforcement professionals.  

NACo educational forums offer county officials access to expert knowledge and insight, information about innovative models of policy and practice, and help develop solutions to the important challenges facing our communities. NACo will reimburse participants for air/mileage and lodging expenses but will require a registration fee of $100 per attendee.  If interested in registering, please visit www.naco.org/methforum or contact NACo staff Justin Carmody (202/942-4279) or Lesley Buchan (202/942/4261). 

NACo Updates Report on County Health Services: NACo has recently updated its Emerging Issues in County Based Health Care report. The issue brief describes trends and county-based solutions to the nation's most pressing health issues, including the uninsured; obesity and chronic diseases; rural health; quality improvement; Medicaid and SCHIP reform; and, inmate healthcare and loss of federal benefits.

NACo Annual Conference Details Available: NACo recently released a listing of times and locations for the affiliate meetings, policy committee events and workshops. On Friday, July 11, NACHSA will meet in the morning with the National Association of County Aging Programs, followed by a Board meeting open to all members and a meeting with NACo's Aging Out of Foster Care Task Force. Click here to view the program at a glance.