On August 1, 2012 changes to Minnesota law regarding continuing foster care past age 18 ("extended foster care") will go into effect. The new statutes amend previous laws in order to implement the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act requirements: Eligibility & Requirements Youth are ineligible if they can safely return home, [...]
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has just released a Committee Opinion on Adoption. This statement aims to provide a discussion about the role of and challenges for obstetrician-gynecologists in working with women seeking medical assistance related to fertility, pregnancy and childbirth. The Committee on Ethics of the Ameican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [...]
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has just released two bulletins summarizing the 2012 children and family services legislation & the 2012 adoption assistance legislation. Most of the new changes are effective August 1 or 2, 2012, with the exception of Jacob's Law, which is effective July 1, 2012. For our child welfare-related summaries of [...]
Minnesota's Department of Human Services has issued a bulletin that summarizes the changes made to the adoption assistance program from the 2012 legislative session. Some of the major highlights and changes are noted below. For a more in-depth review, please read the actual bulletin. All statutes and rules pertaining to adoption assistance can now be [...]
Today is World Refugee Day. At the end of 2011, 15.2 million people were refugees, with 46% being children under the age of 18. Currently it is estimated that there are more than 70,500 refugees in Minnesota; more than 3 million refugees have entered the U.S. since the Refugee Act of 1980 was passed. The [...]
An article today from Child Welfare in the News discussed the issue of considering religion in adoptive placements in Israel. Currently in Israel, parents and adopted children must be of the same religion, meaning that non-Jewish children who are adopted by Jews must be converted to Judaism: "Those adopting non-Jewish children must convert them through [...]
On June 7, 2012, CASCW co-sponsored a reflective seminar on the role of supportive housing in the lives of at-risk adolescents and vulnerable families. For a summary of the seminar, as well as implications for children & families experiencing homelessness (in terms of supportive housing as a tool to increase permanency and stability), please see [...]
The National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth have focused their latest edition of The Exchange on permanency connections for youth. The issues focuses on helping youth who are homeless/runaway connect, build, and improve their permanent connections - that is, a stable living situation that these youth are not afraid of having to leave, with connected [...]