Each Friday on the Stability, Permanency and Adoption blog we will provide a selection of news from the past week that you may have missed.
Today’s news round up:
A new research center in Michigan will address the needs of grandparents raising grandchildren. The National Research Center for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren is the result of a collaboration between Western Michigan University and Georgia State University. According to Linda Dannison, Chair of Western Michigan University’s Family and consumer Sciences, “Having a center devoted to better understanding and influencing policy and practices in order to facilitate people’s awareness will have a more positive impact on the lives of children.” For more information on the center, click here or visit the center’s website here.
The boy removed from his mother’s care due to his obesity is being placed in relative care. The Washington Post reports that the 9-year old will be placed in his uncle’s care. According to the Post article, “The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio joined the case on the boy’s behalf and said he should be with his family. ‘We think it’s a fundamental liberty for a child to be brought up in his home among family and friends,’ said the ACLU’s James Hardiman.” Read the story here.
The Child Welfare League of America and Lambda Legal released a practice guide for state and local child welfare agencies working with LGBTQ youth in child welfare settings. According to the SDGLN.com article, ACYF commissioner Bryan Samuels is quoted, “These guidelines provide practical examples of practices that every child welfare agency can use to better meet the needs of the LGBTQ youth in their care.” For the article, click here.
The Washington Post reported that the Virgina Board of Social Services has ruled that state-licensed adoption agencies can discriminate against LGBTQ prospective adoptive parents based solely on their sexual orientation. Read the full story here.
According to the Associated Press, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a summit in South Dakota to address concerns that the state is not in compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. The state claims the NPR report which reported the great disparities in a three-part series this past fall is inaccurate. You can read the full article here.
In New Jersey, Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D) has introduced a bill requiring adoptive parents to raise their adopted child in the faith or religion of their biological parents. From the New Jersey Jewish Standard, Marc Stern, Associate General Counsel for the American Jewish Committee stated, “It is traumatic enough to pull kids out of a home, and if you have kids who are Sabbath-observant and eat kosher food, and you put them in with the family who is up next on the DYFS list, you are adding to the trauma,” he said. The bill has received some support from Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Catholic communities.
You can read the entire article here.