The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that has been known as No Child Left Behind since 2002, will usher in key provisions to support the educational needs of children and youth in foster care. When children are placed foster care, their school [...]
Now that the Minnesota legislative session has officially ended, here is a summary of some of the child-welfare related bills that have been signed by Governor Dayton since mid-April that we have not yet covered. The policies are separated into three categories: harm reduction, financial stability, and juvenile justice. Bills Related to Harm Reduction Along [...]
This guest post was written by Emily Wesely. [Photo from www.adeca.alabama.gov] Published in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, "Number of Kids Behinds Bars Reaches 35-Year Low", written by Kaukab Smith on February 27, 2013, discussed the recent reduction in youth incarceration rates across the country, reaching the lowest it has been for 35 years. Smith [...]
If you haven't had a chance to visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway website and subscribe to their news feeds and links, I would strongly recommend it. This is an invaluable resource for child welfare workers, supervisors, foster and adoptive parents, students, researchers and policymakers. Click here for the list of email subscriptions for which [...]
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation report on reducing juvenile incarceration, well over 60,000 young people are confined to correctional facilities or other residential programs for juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is broadly defined and encompasses a range of offenses from serious and violent to petty and minor. Conditions within such facilities and even within [...]
Did you know that the average annual cost of housing juveniles in a locked facility is $88,000 per person? As a whole, states spend approximately $6,000,000,000 a year on incarcerated youth. In addition to the cost, incarcerated youth are 50 times more likely to recidivate than their counterparts who remain in the community. Finally, 70 [...]
The Senate passed HF 130, the budget proposal cutting $900 million in state spending. This was a fast turnaround following the House passage of the bill late on 2/9. The bill was sent to the Governor, and he vetoed the bill within a couple hours of receiving it. You can read coverage here, here and [...]