Youth Services Insider

By John Kelly The vast majority of reports of child abuse and neglect emanate from adults outside a child’s family or neighborhood. Most calls come from so-called “mandated reporters,” who are required to disclose any concerns about child safety with protection officials.

The last calendar year of the ‘10s has come and gone, and the fields of child welfare and juvenile justice move on to a new decade. For the past two weeks, The Imprint has counted down some of our top storylines from 2019.

The nearly 2,000-page spending bill released yesterday, which is expected to be approved by both chambers of Congress, will include legislation that seeks to incentivize and ease the path for states on implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act.

Updated information from the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF), obtained last week by Youth Services Insider, shows that the number of states intending to delay on the Family First Prevention Services Act is now at least 27 states.

Two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee plan to introduce major legislation that would unchain federal foster care dollars from a decades-old income test, and ease the transition toward the Family First Prevention Services Act, Youth Services Insider has learned.

A central argument used by proponents of faith-based child welfare protection bills, which allow religious providers to selectively serve some foster and adoptive parents and not others, is its impact on supply.

As we reported last week, several tribes have appealed the recent ruling striking down the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and are asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to issue a stay on the lower court’s ruling until the appeal is decided on.

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.

The House and Senate wrapped up a deal on a sprawling bill meant to assist states in fighting the opioid epidemic, which claimed 50,000 lives last year and has contributed to a five-year surge in the number of youth in foster care.