Senate Education legislation for foster youth introduced

From CWLA:

Senate Considers Fostering Success in Education Amendment

Posted on October 20, 2011 by SuzanneCWLA| Leave a comment

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) continued markup of a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) today, otherwise known as the No Child Left Behind Act. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment addressing the educational stability of youth in care. Following up with the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (Fostering Connections, P.L. 110-351), Senator Franken’s amendment requires that state and local education agencies will work with child welfare agencies to ensure children in care can remain in the school that is in their best interest or promptly transfer when that is in the child’s best interest.
The full committee debated the amendment for about a half an hour. Some committee members were interested in understanding how the new provision differed from what passed under Fostering Connections and how transportation would be provided for children in far away placements. Supporters of the amendment recalled the testimony from an earlier hearing of a young woman who moved several times while in foster care, causing her to switch schools more than ten times. Ultimately, the amendment passed by a vote of 13 to 9. The HELP Committee will continue to markup the bill in hopes of moving it to the Senate Floor soon.

Link to a good article on the challenges of fostering

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Children_s_Health_200/Foster_Home_Heartbreak_An_American_Epidemic.shtml

Bill in US Senate to encourage State to keep kids out of foster care

A bill awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature would give new federal support to state programs  that help keep children out of foster care, according to the bill’s sponsors. Senate Bill 1542 would reform rules that now prohibit states from using federal foster care funding on programs that help keep children at home with their families. States that reduce the number of case- loads now lose federal dollars for foster care, called Title 4-E funds. Under the bill, those states could tap that stream of money for programs that help keep children at home or reduce the duration of their stay in foster care.

States that want to use the new option for spending the federal dollars have to apply for a “flexible funding waiver” from the federal government and may do so beginning in 2012. The application includes a plan and goals for reducing caseloads. Between 2012 and 2014, 30 states will be awarded the waiver, said Dan Ashby, chief of federal funding at the Children’s Administration. The waivers last for five years, he said. Link to the bill

Child Abuse rises with the Recession

CHICAGO (AP) - An increase in child abuse, mostly in infants, is linked with the recent recession in new research that raises fresh concerns about the impact of the nation's economic woes.
The results are in a study of 422 abused children from mostly lower-income families, known to face greater risks for being abused, and the research involved just 74 counties in four states. But lead author Dr. Rachel Berger of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh said the results confirm anecdotal reports from many pediatricians who've seen increasing numbers of shaken baby cases and other forms of brain-injuring abuse.

Berger decided to study this type of injury, known as abusive head trauma, after noticing an increase at her own hospital from late 2007 through June 2009. Her hospital averaged 30 cases per year during those recession years versus 17 yearly before 2007.Though this abuse is still uncommon, the number of cases in the counties studied increased sharply, rising from about 9 cases per 100,000 children in pre-recession years, to almost 15 per 100,000 kids during the recession - a 65 percent increase.By contrast, juvenile diabetes - a better-known condition - affects about 19 per 100,000 children younger than age 10.

Children studied were younger than 5, and most were infants. Most suffered brain damage and 69 died, though the death rate didn't rise during the recession.Unemployment rates in the 74 counties rose during the five-year study. The proportion of children on Medicaid in those counties also increased, from 77 percent before the recession to 83 percent. However, insurance and family employment information were not reported for the abused children in the study.Combine the stress of raising a young child with wage cuts or lost jobs and you get "a sort of toxic brew in terms of thinking about possible physical violence," said Mark Rank, a social welfare professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He said the study echoes sociological research linking violence with declines in economic well-being.

Along with U.S. Census data released last week indicating that a record 46 million Americans are poor, the study shows that "as poverty goes up and economic stagnation continues...there are really human costs involved," Rank said.The study was released online Monday in Pediatrics.
The counties studied included Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania; central and southern Ohio; and a handful of counties in northern Kentucky and in the Seattle area. The researchers examined medical records and national labor statistics for 2004 through November 2007 and compared them with data from the recession.Of the 422 children diagnosed with abusive head trauma during the study, roughly 65 cases occurred each year before the recession, versus about 108 yearly during the recession.Federal government data suggest that the recession did not affect child abuse rates. But the study authors said those numbers are based on reports from child protective services, not medical diagnoses, and did not address brain injuries specifically.

The research doesn't prove that the recession caused the abuse. Studying different regions and children from more middle-class families would help clarify if the recession really played a role, said Dr. Peter Sherman, director of the residency program in social pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.Sherman noted that most children studied were publicly insured even before the recession, suggesting that their families were already struggling financially.Still, the recession affected many lower-income families, and Sherman said the study highlights "a very important issue."

Many of his patients are from poor families and abuse is not uncommon, he said.
He said pediatricians could help with prevention by asking families about difficulties paying for food or shelter and referring those in need to social service agencies. Sometimes just asking parents about stresses in their lives and acknowledging their struggles can help, he said.
Most parents who abuse young children aren't "ill-intentioned," he said. "Most of it is kind of just snapping...maybe being sleep-deprived and just losing it. It's something that can happen to anyone. Economics is just another stress" that can increase the risks, Sherman said.

Is a group home better than a theraputic foster home?

This question is debated in foster care circles.  Thanks to Foster Care Central the following article by a former foster youth is an interesting read.
http://www.representmag.org/issues/FCYU105/I%E2%80%99ll_Take_a_Group_Home.html?story_id=FCYU-2011-07-03b

The Combined Federal Campaign -- A New Way to Donate

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) affords federal employees and armed services members the opportunity to give to charities through payroll deductions. The funding that NFPA receives through CFC allows the organization to provide support, advocacy and educational opportunities for foster parents nationally. 

Please consider donating to NFPA through CFC. The NFPA organization number is: 11817.  

Thank you for your support.

NFPA supports Family Movie Night

The Walmart and P&G Family Movie Night initiative was launched as an effort to provide meaningful entertainment for the entire family. By providing this block of time, Walmart and P&G are striving to reconnect families across the country that are bombarded by busy schedules and the lack of programming that’s appealing to everyone. 

The upcoming original Family Movie Night movie, “Game Time: Tackling the Past” is a gripping sports drama about pro-football star Jake Walker and his journey back to his hometown. It’s a story that confirms that a person’s real value isn’t measured by what they accomplish, but by who they are to those who love them. 

Check out the promo at http://www.moms4familytv.com/index.php.