Impact of Adoption and Safe Families Act Webcast

On December 14, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. E.T., the Urban Institute and the Center for the Study of Social Policy will host an audio Webcast on the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act on the safety, permanence, and well-being of abused and neglected children. The nearly 2-hour session will be moderated by Susan Notkin, New York Director, Center for the Study of Social Policy. Panelists include: Olivia Golden, Fellow, Urban Institute John Mattingly, Commissioner, New York City's Administration for Children's Services Carmen Nazario, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Jeanette Vega, writer, ...

Parent Sponsored Online Pornography for the Little Ones

A 1970s-era Texas law that allows parents to show "harmful material" to their children has come under fire after a prosecutor said he couldn't file charges against a man accused of forcing his eight- and nine-year-old daughters to watch hardcore online pornography. The law apparently was meant to protect the privacy of parents who wanted to teach children about sex education, but it states clearly that parents can't be prosecuted for showing "harmful material" to their children. Randall County District Attorney James Farren has asked for an opinion from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott about a law Farren says makes no sense and needs to be change...

Who MEPA?

Kudos to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute for stepping into the minefield which is race and adoption. Their recently released report, Finding Families for African American Children: The Role of Race & Law in Adoption from Foster Care was widely reported in today's New York Times and on public radio. The Donaldson report focuses on domestic transracial adoption and assesses its use as a policy and practice approach in meeting the needs of African American children in foster care. The findings and recommendations are endorsed by the North American Council on Adoptable Children, the Child Welfare League of America, the Dave Thomas Foundat...

State v. Nguyen

In this Oregon case, the parents appealed a judgment terminating their parental rights in their three-year-old son Matthew. They argued that the state failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that they are unfit parents, that reintegration into their home is improbable within a reasonable time because they are unlikely to change, and that termination of their parental rights was in Matthew's best interest. The TPR was filed after one of the parents inflicted serious abuse on Matthew's sibling, four-month old Martha, repeatedly breaking her limbs and fracturing her skull. The lower court found that the other parent was aware of that conduct ...

HHS Awards $100 Million in Bonuses to States for Reductions in Out-Of-Wedlock Births

Coming just weeks after HHS announced its ASFA adoption bonuses, the $100 million bonus for reducing out-of-wedlock births is an interesting contrast. I must admit that I do not know much about the federal bastard reduction program, but it's probably a good idea. As far as the adoption incentive program goes, the feds spent about $15 million to encourage 3700 adoptions in 2002 or about $4000 per child. This got me wondering, how much are we spending per child to reduce out-of-wedlock births? This seemingly simple task was actually quite difficult because states receive the bastard bonuses based on the rate of reduction, not on raw numbers. After a ...

Safe Haven Laws

The battle over safe haven laws is heating up! These laws are intended to allow parents to leave their newborns at designated safe places, including hospitals and police stations, while guaranteeing those parents anonymity and freedom from prosecution. Sounds good huh? Read on. There are some serious issues. First there was the excellent report by The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute - Unintended Consequences: Safe Haven Laws are Causing Problems, Not Solving Them - which was critical of safe haven laws. Then noted columnist (and adoptive parent) Al Hunt wrote a hard hitting commentary in the Wall Street Journal praising Hawaii Governor Linda ...

Website of Interest

This is a nice site and great resource for tracking national child welfare legislation. This page, at least, is a fancy blog! I don't know Marcia but she is doing a great job. The only change I would make is to provide the legislation as a PDF instead of HTML. Check it out. Best Interests: Legislation

S
1
…
5
6
7
s