HHS

A number of moves are afoot at the federal child welfare agency to consolidate, and potentially limit, its communications work

New federal data shows reports of abuse and neglect continue to increase, while confirmed victims of maltreatment are at another record low. 

Any further delays in implementing FYI, a youth-built HHS platform for economic success, are unforgivable folly. 

Youth Services Insider has heard a range of numbers thrown around lately in regard to how many states plan to delay implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, which mostly takes effect in October.

A few days before Christmas, the federal government extended an invitation to state child welfare agencies that has the potential to completely transform the system. The invitation did not arrive with great publicity.

The Children’s Bureau (CB) might have some idea how many states are thinking about seeking a delay on implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. But it’s not telling. Mum’s the word, for whatever reason, about what news came in by the November 9 deadline the agency imposed on states to notify CB about whether they intended to seek a delay on implementing the law.

George Sheldon, who led two of the largest state human services agencies in the nation and oversaw child welfare for the Obama administration, passed away at the age of 71 on Thursday.

It’s been a little more than five months since the Family First Prevention Services Act, one of the biggest shifts in the history of federal child welfare financing, was shoehorned into a stopgap spending bill.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) signed into law a bill that permits the state’s faith-based child welfare partners to discriminate against same-sex couples, single or unmarried people, and possibly even LGBTQ youth.