CASCW at the Capitol

South Carolina Supreme Court orders family court to finalize adoption of “Baby Veronica”

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00July 19th, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|Tags: adoption, Baby Veronica, ICWA, in the media, Indian child welfare, race and culture, US Supreme Court|

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, otherwise known as the Baby Veronica case. The U.S. Supreme Court had been asked to decide what constitutes a "parent" under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), specifically if the definition includes an unwed biological father who had not complied [...]

Comments Off

Funding made available for mental health services in Minnesota schools

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00July 12th, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|

One of the Minnesota legislature's areas of interest this past legislative session was mental health services, particularly school-based/school-linked services. Several of the bills that were introduced that focused on mental health services for children were included in either the education or health and human services omnibus bills. Funding for school-linked mental health services The education [...]

Comments Off

How are children faring in Minnesota? A review of indicators related to child poverty and maltreatment

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00July 3rd, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|Tags: child poverty, KIDS COUNT Data Book, research, well-being|

The 2013 KIDS COUNT data book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation was recently released. Updated each year, KIDS COUNT provides a snapshot of child and family well-being in the United States as well as within each individual state. The data found in this year's data book is from 2011. Because there is so much [...]

Comments Off

A closer look at Northstar Care for Children

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00June 28th, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|Tags: 88th legislative session, adoption assistance, foster care, HHS finance omnibus bill, new MN law, Northstar Care for Children, relative custody assistance|

The main piece (in my opinion) of Chapter 108 (the session law that was the omnibus Health & Human Services Finance bill) is Article 17, which establishes Chapter 256N in Minnesota Statutes, Northstar Care for Children. As I said in an earlier blog post on Northstar Care for Children, this program will make foster care, [...]

Comments Off

Guest Blog Post: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Child Welfare

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00June 24th, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|

Updated and edited 7/1/13 to reflect references to U.S. Code and to provide a cautionary word of advice (see last footnote). Guest blog post by Rebecca Scholtz. Child welfare professionals can play a crucial role in helping undocumented children access immigration assistance. You don't need to be an expert in immigration law to identify an [...]

2

Child welfare-related snippets of the omnibus HHS finance bill, now law

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00June 12th, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|Tags: 88th legislative session, Affordable Care Act, health care, HHS finance omnibus bill, new Minnesota law, Safe Harbor|

In addition to Article 3 and Article 17 (Northstar Care for Children), there are other areas within Chapter 108 (the omnibus Health and Human Services finance bill) that are directly applicable to children and families involved in the child welfare system. These are just a few. Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Youth The Safe Harbor [...]

Comments Off

Every Child Deserves a Family Act in light of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Minnesota

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00May 22nd, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|

Last year I blogged about recommendations for state-level changes regarding Minnesota's parental recognition laws as they pertain to adoption and foster care by same-sex couples. As it stands, Minnesota law is unclear on the legality of joint adoptions and second-parent adoptions; these issues have instead been left up to individual courts to decide. Last week [...]

Comments Off

Omnibus Health & Human Services Finance bill signed by Governor Dayton, includes Northstar Care for Children

By Heidi Ombisa Skallet|2016-12-01T19:33:06-06:00May 22nd, 2013|Categories: CASCW at the Capitol|Tags: 88th legislative session, adoption assistance, child care assistance, health care, HHS finance omnibus bill, homeless youth, MFIP, new MN law, Northstar Care for Children, public assistance, relative custody assistance, Safe Harbor, sexually exploited youth|

Yesterday Governor Dayton signed the omnibus Health & Human Services (HHS) Finance bill, making it Chapter 108 in the 2013 Session Laws. The main point of this bill was to establish the HHS budget, but there are also policy changes that will impact child welfare. One big change from earlier versions of the bill is [...]

Comments Off

CASCW at the Capitol

July 2013

June 2013

May 2013