Matt Anderson’s Post

Three key principles for prioritizing and supporting kinship placements in child welfare: 1) Advance a kin-first culture; 2) provide supports for children, their parents, and kinship caregivers; and 3) identify and provide community-based supports.

The best foster care option is the one that’s never used because the child is able to safely stay with their family. But when a child must be removed from their home, the next best option is for them to stay with kin. This brief describes three key principles for prioritizing and supporting kinship placements in child welfare: Advance a kin-first culture; provide supports for children, their parents, and kinship caregivers; and identify and provide community-based supports. https://lnkd.in/g6SA2k5j #NationalFosterCareMonth #NFCM2024 #FosterCare #ChildWelfare

What does it mean when I say that parents are invisible in the child welfare system? This article illustrates it in a deeply disturbing way that is far too common. Diane Baird spent four decades as a professional expert witness and routinely advocated that children be adopted by or remain in the custody of their foster parents rather than being reunified with their typically lower-income birth parents or other family members. She based her recommendations on single evaluations of the foster parents, who were also her client. This article documents her role in a particular case in Colorado and her admission that her evaluations lack validity and have remained unchanged since the 1980s. “Baird acknowledged that her entire basis for recommending that the foster parents keep the baby girl was a single less-than-two-hour observation and interview that she’d conducted with them — her clients. She’d never met the baby girl’s biological grandmother, whom the county child services department had been actively planning for the girl to be placed with, according to internal department emails. Nor had she even read any case documents.” This article isn’t about Diane Baird, in my mind. This article is about us, about me. How am I making parents invisible? How will I take responsibility for my contributions to causing harm and my ability to advance justice? #justice #family #integrity #childwelfare https://lnkd.in/e-KrrXGk

Friday Facts on Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family Ties https://lnkd.in/esSCaDCz Around 1/3 of children in foster care are living in a licensed or unlicensed kinship placement, which helps them stay connected to their families and communities. Although child welfare agencies place children in foster care with unlicensed kinship caregivers, they don’t provide the same supports or financial resources. Kinship caregivers with a foster home license, and the children in their care, have access to more services and supports than those who lack a license. Jurisdictions are making progress in streamlining licensing processes through new kin-specific licensing standards. Read our report on the disparities between licensed and unlicensed kinship caregivers here: https://lnkd.in/e43K57eZ

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to raise awareness about foster care and recognize the people who help children in foster care find permanent homes and connections. Did you know that youth who exit foster care without permanent connections face an increased risk of adverse outcomes in adulthood? In 2021 there were more than 390,000 children and youth in foster care. Of these, about 20,000 leave foster care without a permanent family, and 77% of eligible youth left care without receiving the federally funded services necessary to prepare them for adulthood and independent living. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/ekdhN9Y. WRMA has a long history of working to support child welfare programs at the federal and state levels. In fact, our company was founded to serve child welfare agencies by providing child welfare case management and data systems. We remain dedicated to improving outcomes for children and youth in foster care through our work with child welfare programs. Learn more about our work in child welfare: https://lnkd.in/eeAZdwpY. #FosterCareMonth #ChildWelfare #HealthAndHumanServices #FosterCare

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to raise awareness about foster care and recognize the people who help children in foster care find permanent homes and connections. Did you know that youth who exit foster care without permanent connections face an increased risk of adverse outcomes in adulthood? In 2021 there were more than 390,000 children and youth in foster care. Of these, about 20,000 leave foster care without a permanent family, and 77% of eligible youth left care without receiving the federally funded services necessary to prepare them for adulthood and independent living. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/ekdhN9Y. WRMA has a long history of working to support child welfare programs at the federal and state levels. In fact, our company was founded to serve child welfare agencies by providing child welfare case management and data systems. We remain dedicated to improving outcomes for children and youth in foster care through our work with child welfare programs. Learn more about our work in child welfare: https://lnkd.in/eeAZdwpY. #FosterCareMonth #ChildWelfare #HealthAndHumanServices #FosterCare

Check out my interview about the inequities within the foster care system with Marz Anderson of WILX Channel 10!

States and tribal communities are continuing to expand their utilization of federal support for prevention services to keep families together, and children out of foster care, under the Family First Prevention Services Act. The federal Children’s Bureau recently announced several policies changes to support those efforts, allowing federal support for: (1) child care and other services to allow parents to participate in prevention services; (2) meeting requirements to license kinship caregivers as foster parents; and (3) tribes to implement adaptations of prevention programs they deem culturally appropriate.

https://lnkd.in/e76fvbcG When children are not able to live with their parents, they do best with relatives or close family friends. Known as kinship care, these arrangements provide stability and connections that are vital to the development of children and youth, particularly for those who are involved with the child welfare system. Yet state policies governing kinship care vary wildly and leave many kinship caregivers ineligible for financial assistance and support services they need, finds a comprehensive nationwide survey of child welfare administrators described in a report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Family Ties: Analysis From a State-By-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies identifies efforts by states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers. It highlights progress made at reducing barriers to foster care licensing, long-standing inequities in financial assistance for kinship caregivers and new opportunities to address their needs. The last state-by-state analysis was done 15 years ago. Child Trends Generations United Think of Us ABA Center on Children and the Law

Check out the new report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation!