Reasonable Efforts

A Michigan parent on Thursday became the state’s first to successfully appeal a judge’s decision to remove a child into foster care, a ruling that the family’s advocates hailed as “an important first step” toward ensuring that judges don’t put families through the trauma of separation without showing sufficient cause.

As juvenile and family courts around the country settle into emergency postures during a period of national social distancing, one of the nation’s top child welfare officials issued a reminder of the legal steps that must be taken in order for federal dollars to flow from Title IV-E, a multi-billion dollar entitlement that helps pay for family preservation, foster care and adoption.

The IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, which will be in charge of determining what can be funded under the Family First Prevention Services Act, has announced the first slate of options for states.

Every day, child welfare systems confront the effects of America’s misguided social policy. Draconian criminal laws and unjust sentencing policies result in the unnecessary separation of children, particularly those who are African-American, from their parents.

The Family First Prevention Services Act, signed into law earlier this year, strives to prevent some children from entering foster care as a result of contact with the child welfare system.

At the end of 2016, the federal government finally released state-by-state foster care numbers for 2015. Congratulations, Alaska: You’re number one! The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform uses a “Rate of Removal Index” to determine each state’s propensity to place children in foster care.