Social Security Act

Imagine being a child protection agency director 20 years ago and making a bold decision to use the flexibility that comes with capped federal dollars to keep kids from entering foster care – instead of using the funding only as intended, to remove children from struggling families and place them into the system.

In April, members of Los Angeles County’s powerful Board of Supervisors hosted a lobbying event on the House side of Capitol Hill. During an hour-long panel discussion with likely Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reps.

In mid-April, former Senate Finance staffer-turned-lobbyist Becky Shipp sent an e-blast to dozens of key child welfare insiders inviting them to an intimate conversation focused on health care and child welfare policy.

Last week, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Family First Prevention Services Act. It is an encompassing and complex piece of legislation that will take some time for states to figure out in terms of the opportunities, as well as the data collection, reporting, accountability and state plan requirements that accompany those opportunities.

Last week, several prominent California child welfare experts expressed grave concerns about the Family First Prevention Services Act, ­pending federal legislation that would dramatically change how foster care is paid for.

In March of this year, the national Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities released its 150-page final report. The President and party leaders from both the House and Senate appointed this 12-member group in 2012 and tasked them with bringing forth recommendations for eliminating abuse- and neglect-related child deaths in America.

As we reported yesterday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has proposed a major overhaul of the federal “IV-E” entitlement. The legislation would, for the first time, expand the scope of the multi-billion account beyond foster care and permit states to spend more freely on preservation, reunification and kinship support.

By Sarah Thomas In 2014, Los Angeles County’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection issued a scathing report that pointed out that the social workers investigating emergency cases of child abuse and neglect were often the least experienced.