The Annual Report for 2011 Intercountry Adoptions is now available through the U.S. State Department, which oversees intercountry adoptions for the United States. Some of the interesting highlights from the report: Total adoptions to the U.S. was 9,320, a decrease from 11,058 in 2010. The top sending countries were China (2,589), Ethiopia (1,727), Russia (970), [...]
On November 1, 2011, in conjunction with National Adoption Month, a press conference was held at the School of Social Work to kick-off the start of the first year of the Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate. Guest speakers included Commissioner of the MN Department of Human Services Lucinda Jesson, CASCW Executive Director Traci LaLiberte, PACC [...]
Hello again! Over the past few weeks we have been working to revamp our policy blog and plan for the upcoming legislative session here in Minnesota. Below you will find our child welfare legislative roundup for the month of September so far. For the remainder of September we will be highlighting the federal Child and [...]
Our Friday recap of highlighted legislation on our Facebook page: S. 1234: Partners for Stable Families and Foster Youth Affected by Methamphetamine or Other Substance Abuse ActBill description: A bill to amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to reauthorize grants to assist children affected by methamphetamine or other substance abuse [...]
By now, you've probably heard the news about the May 23rd legislative deadline that came and went this week. Minnesota Public Radio sums it up in a nutshell: "Gov. Dayton vetoed nine budget bills assuring a special session will be called to pass a two-year budget. Dayton also said there's a "strong likelihood" that a [...]
Minnesota is racing toward the Monday, May 23rd, deadline. Governor Dayton has indicated that he will reject any legislative budget proposals that resolve the deficit using cuts only; Dayton is calling for an approach that includes cuts and increased revenue. See Politics in Minnesota and MPR. Yesterday, the legislators passed to Governor Dayton their final [...]
The conference committees have been bustling in advance of the session deadline. House and Senate conference committee members agreed to the Health & Human Services budget amongst other budget areas. The Conference Committee Working Targets spreadsheet shows how each budget area's current proposal compares to the other policy areas, as well as how each compares [...]
Legislators slogged through more conference committee meetings this week, debating the state budget. Most of the conversation in Health and Human Services committees has been focused on health care and disability services, with citizen activism disrupting one session. Child welfare issues have not risen to the surface of debates, but they remain very susceptible to [...]