Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Anti-poverty and children’s advocates are bracing for the fallout of proposed federal policy changes that would slash access to the social safety net for immigrant families, which could result in more children entering foster care.

Even as the state faces a potential recession and changes to the federal tax code, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) made significant investments in the state’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the first version of the state’s 2018-2019 budget.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the state of Kentucky in a case about kinship care that may have long-term impact across the United States.

In 1984, George Orwell defined “doublethink” as holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting them both. In child welfare, for example, we have been told for decades that child welfare systems don’t take away children because their families are poor.

Since the election of Donald Trump, there have been glimpses of the potential fallout for vulnerable children in foster care — those whom the state is responsible for parenting. We are looking at the possibility of disastrous cuts that will adversely affect children and families for generations to come.

Last week, the Chronicle ran the first in a series of stories describing how the federal government pays for child welfare; and the movement afoot to reform foster care financing. Federal dollars only flow out of the Title IV-E entitlement for youths whose birth families would have qualified for financial assistance in 1996 under the now-defunct welfare program: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

New Bipartisan Data Technology Bill Introduced in House On Tuesday, March 5, Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) introduced H.R. 948, legislation that would require greater coordination and standardization of data collection systems within the human service community including child welfare programs. 

Senate Readies Passage of VAWA Reauthorization The Senate was nearing a final vote on S. 47, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The legislation, sponsored by the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen.