Foster Care and Child Welfare Week in Review – February 27, 2023
Here are some news items from last week related to foster care, adoption, and child welfare that caught our eye:
In Texas and nationwide, state and federal laws are supposed to protect foster youth until they turn 21, a hedge against rampant homelessness, hunger, sexual exploitation and incarceration. The push to extend foster care beyond age 18 is designed to support teenagers “aging out” of the system who have no adults or family to rely on, providing them with financial assistance, housing and casework support. But an investigation by The Imprint found that Texas all too often throws up unnecessarily burdensome hurdles, and then fails to provide the federal entitlements for housing and basic needs that these older foster youth are owed.
The Texas Economic Stabilization or “Rainy Day” Fund is expected to reach its legal limit of $26.38 billion in 2025 and Odessa State Rep. Brooks Landgraf wants to send the overflow back where it came from. The fund held $10.689 billion from state oil and natural gas severance taxes last Aug. 31 and it’s projected to end this fiscal year with a $13.716 billion balance. “This can come in the form of addressing shortages in law enforcement personnel, nursing, skilled workforce training, public education, colleges, health care institutions, transportation infrastructure, accounts used to clean up air and groundwater contamination and property tax relief across the state,” Landgraf said.
The draft regulations released this week by the U.S. Administration for Children and Families could dramatically increase the number of relatives, close neighbors and friends who receive financial support to care for foster children. A potentially historic reform is embedded in a dense set of proposed regulations released Tuesday, aimed at settling a longstanding policy dispute. If approved, the regulations confirm states have the option to make foster care licensing easier for a child’s kin, allowing them to receive the same financial help as foster parents — adults who have been through strict training and vetting but lack something essential: a prior connection to the child.
A new study out of Georgia found that the monthly Child Tax Credit payments made to families during 2021 resulted in fewer children visiting the emergency room with abuse- and neglect-related injuries. It is the first study to directly analyze the effect these temporary payments had on child abuse and neglect.
5.Finding Family on CBS7: Audrey
Audrey, 16, is full of personality. You will often find her with her nose in a book. Last week, CBS7 went back to her interview in November of 2022 that captured her time at I Love My Selfie in Midland. Reading her Heart Gallery of West Texas profile you will find she is compassionate with an artistic side. Check out this great girl, you could be the family she is looking for.
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