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| Greetings NACHSA Members! |
Federal Update:
Congress is nearing adjournment, which may occur next week. House and Senate leadership have agreed to a plan to adopt a funding bill that essentially continues all federal programs at current appropriations levels through the end of the federal fiscal year. The only exception is funding for the Department of Homeland Security, where immigration is housed. That Department will receive funding for a short term, as the GOP works to try to stop the implementation of the President's executive order on immigration. -
Under the overall spending plan, programs such as CSBG, SSBG and LIHEAP will be spared from cuts that have been proposed. TANF and Older Americans Act funding will also continue for the remainder of FY 2015, despite a lack of a reauthorization bill. Alternatively, funds the Senate appropriated in its bill for adult protective services under the Elder Justice Act will not receive first time funding.
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| Human Services Resources | |
Report Examines Foster Care Disproportionality Rates: The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) recently published a bulletin examining national- and State-level disproportionality rates for children of color in foster care. It compares data on disproportionality rates from 2000 with data from 2012 to examine how rates have changed over time. Results indicate that overall rates among African-American children decreased from 2.5 times the rate of the general population to 2 times the rate; the rate among Native American children increased from 1.5 to 2.4; and the overrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino children occurred in seven States in 2000 but in only five States as of 2012.
Map Compares State TANF Data: Created by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), this interactive map provides a wealth of information on state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, which - as CBPP analyses have documented - have weakened significantly as a safety net since TANF's creation in the 1996 welfare law. TANF reaches many fewer needy families than it used to and TANF cash benefits have lost a fifth of their value since 1996 in most states.
Families at the Nexus of Housing and Child Welfare: Research on the relationship between housing and child welfare has consistently found a higher rate of child welfare system involvement among families that are homeless or otherwise precariously housed than among low income families with stable housing. This First Focus/SPARC issue brief summarizes what is known currently about the relationship between housing and child welfare, describes some of the ways child welfare agencies are addressing the housing needs of families and explores the use of housing interventions to reduce child welfare involvement among families that are homeless.
Implementing the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard: The recently-enacted Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (H.R.4980), attempts to expand the opportunities for youth in foster care to participate in developmentally appropriate activities such as field trips, sleepovers and other extracurricular activities. A new Center for the Study of Social Policy brief focuses on how states can meet the "reasonable and prudent parent standard" requirement of the law as part of their responsibility to promote normalcy, healthy development and well-being for all youth - and to ensure that youth, especially those who age out of care, leave foster care healthy and prepared for life.
Parental Substance Use & the Child Welfare System: This HHS brief provides child welfare workers with information on the intersection of substance use disorders and child maltreatment and describes strategies for prevention, intervention, and treatment, including examples of effective programs and practices.
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Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
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