Download Federal Legislative Authority Summary Document

Wicked Problems of Child Welfare: Eight Grand Challenges
Grand Challenge
Areas
Examples of Relevant Federal Provisions
Early childhood & adolescent
brain development
Monitoring and treatment of emotional trauma associated with a child's
maltreatment and removal from home • Appropriate use and monitoring
of psychotropic medications • Requirements that guardians ad litem be
trained in early childhood, child, and adolescent development
2. Harnessing the natural
motivations of parents and kinship
caregivers
Family support, preservation &
kinship care
Requires States to consider giving preference to adult relatives over
non-relative caregivers when choosing a placement for a child • TANF
child-only grants • Early childhood home visitation programs • Kinship
guardianship assistance payments • Kinship navigator programs •
Efforts to find biological family and reestablish relationships.
3. Synthesizing research evidence
on the effects of out-of-home care
Foster care & diversion
alternatives to out-of-home
placement
1. Reversing the adverse effects of
child maltreatment on brain
development
4. Sustaining family continuity after
legal permanence
5. Strengthening the voice of youth
in the child welfare system
6. Linking child well-being
measures to administrative data on
child safety and family permanence
Post-adoption services and
other post-permanency supports
Youth in & aging out of foster
care
Measuring child well-being &
tracking safety & permanency
Differential response in screening and assessment procedures •
Background checks of prospective foster parents
Adoption of older, minority & other children with special needs
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program available to youth exiting to
kinship guardianship or adoption after age 16
Education and Training Voucher Program available le to youth exiting
to kinship guardianship or adoption after age 16
Free copy of any consumer credit report • Importance of health-care
power-of-attorney in transition planning • Children visited on a monthly
basis • Child's health and education record supplied to the child at no
cost when he/she leaves foster care after attaining the age of majority •
Placement of siblings in the same foster care, adoption, or guardianship
home
National random sample study of child welfare (NSCAW) • Improved
data matching • Statewide/ Tribal Automated Child Welfare Information
System (SAWIS/TACIS) • Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and
Reporting System (AFCARS) • The National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data System (NCANDS)
Federal Legislative Authority
Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (P.L. 11234) • CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320)
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (P.L
104-193) • Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act
(P.L. 112-34) • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111148) • Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
(P.L. 110-351)
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320) • Adam Walsh
Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-248)
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320) • Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351)
Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (P.L. 11234) • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) •
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L.
110-351) • Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act
(P.L. 109-239)
Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-288)
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (P.L
104-193) • Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act
(P.L. 112-34) • Family Preservation and Support Services Program Act
of 1993 (P.L. 103-66) • Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986
(P.L. 99-509 • Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1988 (P.L.
100-294)
Adoption incentive funds • Establish outcome measures to monitor and
Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) • Serve America
improve State performance • Social Innovation Fund • Pay for Success
Act (P.L. 111-13) •2012 Federal Budget
Bonds
Education, qualifications, and training requirements for CPS personnel •
8. Preparing the future workforce
Workforce development,
Federal reimbursement for short-term training for relative guardians;
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320) • Fostering
for child welfare’s wicked problems training & child welfare social
private child welfare agency staff; child abuse and neglect court
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351)
and grand challenges
work education
personnel; agency, child, or parent attorneys; guardians ad litem; and,
court-appointed special advocates
Source: University of North Carolina School of Social Work & the Children’s Home Society of America. (2013). Compilation of Grand Challenges Identified at the Wicked Problems of Child Welfare Institutes:
Chapel Hill (February 22-23, 2012), Chicago (October 3-4, 2012) and Washington, DC (February 19-20, 2013).
7. Attracting private investments
and using performance contracts to
improve child and family services
Pay for success bonds,
privatization & performance
contracts