This morning, Senator Klobuchar (D-MN) was one of several guest speakers at a White House event discussing adoption. The event was captured through live streaming, and the permanent link to the event can be found here. ** Edited 12/1/2011 - Following is from Michael Wear, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of The White House [...]
On November 15th, 2011 the House and Senate introduced the Stillbirth and Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID, or also known as SIDS) Prevention, Education, and Awareness Act of 2011 (H.R.3418 and S. 1862, respectively). If enacted, these bills would help us better understand causes and prevent stillbirths and SUID by:Expanding data collection activities & establishing [...]
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, many Americans are feeling excitement over the time off from work or school, the gathering of family and/or friends, the large amounts of food to be cooked and then eaten, and, of course, the shopping deals one can find as early as midnight on Friday morning. Tables [...]
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), [...]
Tomorrow, several states and counties across the United States will finalize adoptions as part of National Adoption Day 2011, the day designated each year to bring awareness and recognition of foster care adoption in the United States (for more information about Adoption Day events in Minnesota click here). Over the past month, two bills have [...]
(Updated November 26 with new legislation. -HNO) Due to the intense media coverage of the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, it seems that a blog post on mandated reporting in child welfare might be quite relevant and useful. Although the media can be helpful in bringing child welfare issues to the top of [...]
The Foster Children Opportunity Act, H.R. 3333, which was introduced on November 3rd, 2011, would protect abused and neglected immigrant children in foster care and ensure they are given ample opportunity to gain legal status before they leave care. Under current immigration law, many immigrant foster children are eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) [...]
In recognition of Veterans Day, the House of Representatives introduced a bill that encourages every civilian to observe today by offering to listen, with respect and without judgment, to a veteran tell the story of the veteran's time at war and experience since returning home. Most veteran legislation reflects the need for policies on provision [...]