Child Welfare

What's New

What’s New2019-09-13T14:50:27-05:00

Stay updated on recent work to give every child a safe start.

A Historic Win: Family First Preservation Services Act

On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the landmark bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act, as part of Division E in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892). Family First includes long-overdue historic reforms to help keep children safely with their families and avoid the traumatic experience of entering foster care, emphasizes the importance of children growing up in families and helps ensure children are placed in the least restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate to their special needs when foster care is needed.

Recent Blogs

  • What the Omnibus Spending Bill Means for Children and Youth

    The passing of this bipartisan bill comes at a pivotal time when families nationwide, regardless of racial, economic, and social background, are rising out of unforeseen, unprecedented, and unpredictable circumstances.

  • This Month, Act to Fund Care Not Cages

    Continued reliance on institutional placements puts our nation’s children—especially Black children—at risk of lasting harm to their health, development, and well-being. Congress must prioritize effective community-led, family-focused, youth-centered programs to ensure young people have the resources and supports they need to thrive within their families and communities.

  • A Time for Altruism

    Foster youth are on the cusp of a crisis in the middle of a pandemic. If our representatives in Washington D.C. don’t act fast, thousands of foster youth will age out of foster care on October 1st, and many more will lose a lifeline to flexible cash assistance that young people like me fought for. We need Congress to pass legislation that extends the protections included in the Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act immediately.

Child Watch® Columns