Permanency Services

Newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is moving quickly to change how youth are prosecuted and held accountable for crimes – hiring a public defender to overhaul long-standing juvenile justice policies, ending the practice of trying children in adult court and halting the prosecution of truancy cases. 

Youth and young adults who are having a rough time overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic are targeted for help under a set of long-awaited initiatives announced this week by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

The conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI) published a set of recommended “lessons learned” about child welfare practice during coronavirus, while taking issue with several child welfare positions the Trump administration had during the pandemic.

The Biden administration promised bold transformative policies that would meet the contemporary racial and economic justice challenges facing the nation. We are hopeful that the Biden administration will include in that commitment some needed and radical changes to its child welfare policy, starting with the nation’s top-down policies around punitive child abuse and neglect registries.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that is certain to roll back protections cemented in the last days of the Trump administration for faith-based, federally-funded child welfare providers that wish to follow religion in choosing who to work with.

Montana’s new Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, has named a new leader to run the state’s largest agency, the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which among other things oversees child welfare and family services.

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris, 

During the campaign, I saw your signs touting the phrase, “Our best days still lie ahead.” 

But what do “best days” look like for our children and families?