David Sanders

In a piece published last week by The Imprint, Casey Family Programs Vice President David Sanders called on federal and state government to “work collaboratively toward realizing our nation’s goal of protecting vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.”

When the President and Congress asked the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF) to develop a national strategy to eliminate child maltreatment fatalities in 2014, we knew the task would not be easy.

Philip Browning’s five-year tenure as director of Los Angeles County’s Department of Children’s Services (DCFS) concludes tomorrow, and the search for his replacement is underway. Brandon Nichols, who served as chief deputy under Browning, was recently named acting director.

At last week’s Wicked Problems Institute session in Chicago, attendees received a briefing from Amy Templeman, one of the lead staffers on the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF).

Earlier this month, I issued the Dissenting Report of Judge Patricia Martin to the final report of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF). The dissenting report was constructed to give the President and Congress a valid perspective of CECANF’s work.

Last night, PBS’ NewsHour aired a segment investigating strategies in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County to better identify children at highest risk of abuse and neglect and to improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care.

Last week, the United States Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities released its final report, “Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities.” This report represents a culmination of a two-year effort to study, review, and address an issue that has frustrated and confounded generations of policy makers, child protection officials and government leaders.

Today, a White House-appointed commission created to end child abuse and neglect fatalities delivered a lengthy set of recommendations bent on re-orienting all the public systems that touch children towards child safety.

On November 3, Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to hire Judge Michael Nash as the director of the Office of Child Protection. The office was one of the top recommendations to come out of the county’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection, which was sunsetted last year.