Child Welfare

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved a bill that could provide the first federal requirement of legal counsel to parents and children in child welfare cases, though there appeared to be some discussion of further negotiations on that before a vote of the full Senate.

A federal judge has been trying for years to get Ohio to pay kinship caregivers their due under federal law, but counties say there’s not enough money from the state to make it feasible.

On June 1, a federal judge issued final approval for a settlement in a decades-old case to improve the experience of foster children in the nation's capital.

Youth Services Insider will delve further into the first budget proposed by President Joe Biden in the coming weeks, but wanted to list off a few notable items that jumped off the page from child welfare and juvenile justice.

One of the nation’s leading legal advocacy groups for children recently embraced a new agenda, pledging to disrupt “institutional racism and its effects on the child welfare system.”

Despite the high-profile death of a Minnesota toddler placed with family friend, research shows kinship care placements are generally safe for children, and can minimize their trauma.

Continuing a decade-long effort, members of Congress are rallying to prohibit federally-funded foster care agencies from discriminating against prospective parents, and to protect LGBTQ foster youth from abusive "conversion therapy."

As a part of their efforts to engage families, many child welfare agencies sponsor community events. These happenings are designed to build social capital, to provide an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to meet each other and to create a network of supportive relationships. 

A philanthropic gift of $6 million should mean a significant bump in the number of kids who will benefit from one-on-one adult mentoring through Friends of the Children.