A group of child welfare advocates in California have jointly issued recommendations for state policy makers on how to implement the Chafee funds provided through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
A copy of the letter is available here.
A group of child welfare advocates in California have jointly issued recommendations for state policy makers on how to implement the Chafee funds provided through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
A copy of the letter is available here.
February 9, 2021 op-ed by Megan Henry in the Columbus Dispatch
“Having a relief package like that was a big boost to my morale,” said the 20-year-old. “It’s very comforting and it’s a lot of relief and stress off my shoulders.”
Sandhu entered the foster care system when he was 15and emancipated after he graduated from Findlay High School in northwest Ohio in 2019.
Read the full op-ed here.
September 8, 2020
Former foster youth affiliated with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Foster Youth Intern Program write to the First Lady to thank her for her support of the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Danny Davis and Jackie Walorski. “The provisions of this legislation would make a significant difference for older foster youth facing unprecedented stress amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, to make this a reality and deliver the necessary relief, we now need Congress to come together and act and pass this legislation.”
July 23rd, 2020
One goal was to push for passage of the Emergency Family Stabilization Act, a bipartisan-sponsored bill that would provide emergency funding to community organizations to address the needs of homeless youth during the pandemic. SchoolHouse Connection is urging Congress to include it in the next COVID funding bill.
Full article here.
July 9, 2020 Chronicle of Social Change
Almost 100 children and teens living in residential facilities in California have caught the coronavirus, state officials confirmed this week, including infections at four group care programs in Los Angeles County.
The number of infected children is a fraction of the more than 2,600 foster youth in residential programs in the state. But it is nonetheless a sign of the rampage the virus has been on of late – striking not only prisons and nursing homes, but centers for children who have been taken from their parents due to abuse or neglect. Some youth have been sent to quarantine in trailers.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Barbara Ferrer on Wednesday suggested that deaths in the county could soon rise thanks to an increasing number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations.
“We should be worried because there are a lot less eyes on these facilities, especially now during the pandemic,” said Jacqueline Robles, a 21-year-old former foster youth working as a peer advocate for the law firm representing Los Angeles County children.
Full article here.
July 8th, 2020
Aging out of the foster care system can be a challenge under normal circumstances, but during a pandemic, it can be even harder. Now with COVID-19, hundreds of young adults who are aging out of the system and still struggling to find a job or a place to live, are now also at risk of losing their support system. Also, those who might have been able to bring their case to court were unable to since courts were closed during the height of the pandemic. Courts have only started to reopen over the last month.
Full article here.
Tee, a former foster youth from Iowa shares results from FosterClub’s second poll of youth from foster care who are transitioning to adulthood, between the ages 18-24. Tee is currently in her last year studying social work and struggling to switch from hands on to online education. Tee has lost 2 of her 3 jobs as a result of COVID-19. FosterClub’s most recent poll found that,
65% of foster youth have lost employment as a result of COVID-19
41% who have applied for unemployment have not received assistance
52% have not received a stimulus check
Tee asks Congress for support stating that an increasing Chafee funds would support older youth in care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boston Globe, June 29, 2020
More than 8 percent of children living in Department of Children and Families group homes and similar settings have contracted the coronavirus, a figure that far outstrips the rate among young people elsewhere in the state.
The first case of COVID-19 in so-called congregate care surfaced in early April, according to DCF officials, and similar to other corners of Massachusetts, the virus has proliferated since. Of the roughly 1,700 children in state custody living in group homes or residential school settings, 144 have so far contracted the virus.
State officials have not reported any COVID deaths among children in DCF group care, and none of those who tested positive are believed to have been hospitalized, said Maria Z. Mossaides, the head of the state’s independent Office of the Child Advocate.
All but one child has recovered as of June 23, the last time state officials updated their weekly disclosure of cases at various state facilities.
But the share of children who’ve become infected stands in stark contrast to the virus’s apparently scant spread among young people statewide. Of the state’s nearly 109,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, about 5 percent were under the age of 20. And those roughly 5,800 cases account for less than 0.4 percent of the nearly 1.6 million people living in Massachusetts who are 19 years old or younger.
The data offer what officials say is another example of how congregate living situations, such as nursing homes or independent living centers, can be ripe for spread. They also note that children in group homes may be subject to more testing than the general population.
But among some of the state’s most vulnerable children, it also underscores another concern, advocates say: the outsized impact the virus has had on people of color. Hispanic and Black people made up 47 percent of minor children in congregate care, according to DCF’s most recent annual report, even though they account for just 19 percent of the state’s total population.
White people made up 41 percent of those in congregate care, where children live under 24-hour supervision in group settings.
State officials have released little publicly on the children in group care who have tested positive, including their age, race, or gender — information that is regularly collected and disclosed on other COVID cases statewide.
And the information that is regularly released on DCF group homes, which are run by outside vendors, is limited: It doesn’t include the number of cases among staff members, nor does it show the location of the group homes that have reported cases.
The thin disclosures have frustrated child advocates and attorneys, who say that despite formal state guidance for group homes on navigating the pandemic, they’ve heard anecdotal reports of protocols varying widely in settings where quarantining children — who often share rooms and bathrooms — is already difficult.
“It’s demonstrative that congregate care is an inherently dangerous environment,” said Cristina Freitas, an attorney and member of MA Child Welfare COVID-19 Coalition, a collection of roughly a dozen advocacy groups, law firms, and others. “They’re not built to support that type of social distancing [recommended by health officials] and a lot of these facilities, especially with DCF, only have one or two bathrooms.”
Freitas said she and her law partner and sister, Debbie Freitas, have filed public records requests seeking more information since April, only to face a tangle of responses from DCF; the state Department of Early Education and Care, which licenses group homes; and the state Department of Public Health, which handles the overall COVID data reported by the state. Each agency said it didn’t have in its “custody or control” the demographic data, or couldn’t say who did, Cristina Freitas said.
That lack of information on nearly 2,000 children in state custody points to what Debbie Freitas called a “constant struggle of transparency” within DCF, which has long released what advocates say are incomplete or delayed data.
“It’s about releasing data to save lives, not reputations or egos,” Debbie Freitas said.
State officials defended their handling of congregate care settings. They said the department’s leaders have held weekly or biweekly calls with group home providers in addition to offering mobile testing at homes starting April 10.
State officials last updated a 19-page set of guidelines for group homes on April 14, included telling homes to exclude any staff members who test positive from returning to work for at least seven days until after they were tested. The state also requires that all staff be screened before entering a facility, to further guard against potential spread.
“Child protection is the first and foremost priority of the Department of Children and Families,” said Andrea Grossman, a DCF spokeswoman. “Throughout this unprecedented pandemic, the Department has maintained close communication with providers to triage and respond to issues as they arose, such as helping providers source personal protective equipment for children and staff. We are pleased that the vast majority of children who tested positive have clinically recovered.”
Mossaides, the state’s child advocate, said within many of DCF’s 250 congregate care facilities, it’s inherently difficult to separate children. Getting a hold of personal protective equipment early in the pandemic was also challenging, and while the state allowed for emergency sites for those who have tested positive — DCF secured 21 beds across four sites — officials tried to avoid moving vulnerable children unless absolutely necessary, Mossaides said.
But she otherwise praised the steps DCF and state officials took, both in offering testing and including DCF’s medical director in decision-making on children’s cases.
“The idea that only one child is currently diagnosed with COVID-19 is a testament to what policies were implemented,” said Mossaides, who previously was executive director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service, which manages two group homes.
Mossaides said the vast difference between the infection rates among children in group homes and children statewide could be attributed to both the cramped setting of a group home and the level of testing to which the children are subjected.
“I think we’ve done a lot more testing with this population,” she said. “I can say, literally in the first couple days and weeks thereafter, I was involved in daily briefings: ‘What do we need to do? Are we doing enough?’ In that sense, I think there was an immediate response.”
Even before the pandemic, officials have identified other worrisome trends in group homes. A state’s Child Advocate report released in November found that at least 184 children were neglected in such settings during fiscal year 2019 — a 55 percent increase over the previous year. More than 10 percent were 11 years old or younger, the report found.
Five group homes had three or more reports of abuse or neglect, Mossaides said at the time, and her office found a common thread of issues: problems with recruiting, training, and retaining sufficient staff.
With the pandemic, however, she said she’s confident the homes have the tools to be responsive.
“People are much clearer on what you need to do to make sure the environment is safe as it can be,” Mossaides said.
Article here.
Chronicle of Social Change
June 19, 2020
Op-ed by New York City Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner David A. Hansell shares below what New York City has been doing to support youth through extended foster care.
“No city or state across the U.S. should allow a young person to leave foster care, at any age, unless they have a stable and supportive living arrangement. And, the federal government should step in to provide states and localities with their share of funding for these youth in care over age 21, particularly during the pandemic. As we continue to face a world full of uncertainty, and added challenges, let’s make sure our most vulnerable young people — those who have been in foster care — have the support they need for as long as they need it. And especially during this crisis, we encourage other jurisdictions to follow our model and implement policies assuring that no youth leaves foster care without a place to call home.”
Op-ed here.
June 19th, 2020
COVID-19 has had profound impacts on young people across the country, and particularly on those in the foster care system. Many of those youth risk an abrupt loss of support and services immediately upon their exit from the system. No housing assistance. No food subsidies. No support networks. Especially in the midst of a pandemic, this needs to change.
Full article here.
HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative is an initiative that provides housing assistance and supportive services to young people with a child welfare history who are at-risk-of or experiencing homelessness. FYI, in conglomeration with local resources, will assist communities in ensuring that every young person who has had experience with the child welfare system has access to safe, affordable housing where they are supported to reach self-sufficiency by working toward their education and employment goals.
Press release here.
Des Moines Register
June 10, 2020
Op-ed by Tiara Mosley spent four years in the Iowa foster care system and was a 2018 FosterClub Outstanding Young Leader.
Foster youth are feeling isolated, hopeless, and overwhelmed during this pandemic. I recently participated in a virtual congressional briefing hosted by FosterClub, Youth Villages and Juvenile Law Center to elevate the voices of the many foster youth who are facing the burden of COVID-19 alone, I hope that Congress can provide emergency aid directly to young people from foster care so their accomplishments, success and lives are not completely derailed.
Full op-ed here.
Post-Journal – June 10, 2020 |
Legislation introduced recently in the state Assembly would establish a six-month moratorium on aging out of foster care. Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-Poughkeepsie, introduced A.10510 to add a new paragraph in the state’s Unconsolidated Law to require the state to continue providing the same care to youth and caregivers that would be provided had the youth not turned 18 years of age during the moratorium. Full article here. |
State and local leaders across the country are working hard to continue vital services and resources to older youth during these extraordinary times, but they face major challenges. In this letter, advocates urge Congress to act now to address these needs and offer a series of legislative recommendations provided below for inclusion in the next COVID-19 relief bill.
See letter here.
Associated Press
…Foster children have enormous challenges even in the best of times. The coronavirus pandemic threatens them with even greater turmoil, isolating them from adult supervisors and friends and making it harder to move on to new lives — either with biological or adoptive families, or as newly independent adults….
Link here
Read sign on letter here.
May 8, 2020. In this letter, Gov. Justice urges Congress to provide emergency funding for the following programs:
Read full letter here.
WBIW.COM
(INDIANAPOLIS) – Foster Success has sent a letter to Governor Eric Holcomb asking him to take immediate steps to help Hoosier foster youth during the pandemic. The letter urges the Governor to take additional action to meet the unique health and safety needs of teens and young adults in Indiana’s child welfare system and those who have recently transitioned out of care.
Link here
Executive order suspends definition of “child” (related to age) for the purposes of receiving services for 90 days after the termination of the Public Health State of Emergency. See page 21 of Executive Order here.
Advocates and service providers working with families impacted by the child welfare system write to Governor Cuomo and Commissioner Poole and urge the following action steps:
Read full letter here.
In this letter, Sec Hunters outlines recommends areas in need of federal stimulus, including:
Read letter here.
OLUMBUS, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state will continue to cover the costs for youth in foster care who are turning 18 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to DeWine, more than 200 people will “age out” of Ohio’s foster care system in the next three months.
“For many of these young people, their future looks uncertain because of COVID-19, whether their plan was to start a career or pursue higher education. This program will provide them with a safety net during these difficult times,” DeWine said.
Executive Order here
Provisions include:
Letter from DCFS Director to Foster Care Alumni Association-IL to express thanks for efforts to ensure that youth in transition are provided services and resources necessary to maintain their safety and health during this difficult time. The letter outlines the steps that DCFS is taking to address the elevated needs of youth in transition. Letter here.
MDHHS Children’s Services Agency issues guidance regarding changes to Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care (YAVFC) and Youth In Transition (YIT) funded housing supports to make services available to eligible youth. Guidance here.