Legal Writing - What are Judges looking for...

DMVC Productions = Results: Legal Writing - What are Judges looking for...:

These articles and blogs have great tips for both pro se litigants and lawyers, "If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it being above water."  Ernest Hemingway


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Press Release - Which Court Can Decide Child Custody?

Press Release - Which Court Can Decide Child Custody?:

Which court can decide child custody depends on the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act. 


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How Big Pharma and the Psychiatric Establishment Drugged Up Our Kids

How Big Pharma and the Psychiatric Establishment Drugged Up Our Kids | | AlterNet:

Pediatric psychopharmacology is a billion-dollar business that sustains Pharma and Pharma investors on Wall Street.

Apparently CPS is refusing to honor this court order.

Legally Kidnapped: Apparently CPS is refusing to honor this court order.:

4-year-old Texas girl stolen by CPS, heavily drugged for crying for Mommy and Daddy

4-year-old Texas girl taken from parents and heavily drugged by Child Protective Services — RT:

WHY? Because she was crying for Mommy and Daddy!


Sound Familiar?


The parents of a 4-year-old girl are outraged after their daughter was placed under the care of Child Protective Services and then heavily medicated with psychotropic drugs.


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ACF Releases Information Memorandum on Child Welfare Waivers

ACF Releases Information Memorandum on Child Welfare Waivers:

Note: Isn't it illegal for a DCYF Caseworker to sign an application for Title IV funding when the parent refuses to sign because she is NOT on AFDC/TANF, has NO intentions in signing up for AFDC/TANF and is NOT eligible to receive AFDC/TANF?

This week Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) formally requesting that the agency conduct a review of policy options for de-linking eligibility for federal foster care assistance under Title IV-E from the income standards it is currently tied to.

Under current law, a state may only claim federal reimbursements for the cost of foster care for children whose biological families would have qualified for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program in 1996.                 

In their letter, the three senators point out the decreasing percentage of children in foster care who are covered by IV-E, which is known as the penetration rate.  Since this income standard has not been increased or indexed for inflation in more than 15 years, the federal government provides IV-E foster care funding to fewer than half of children in out-of-home care (the most recent available national penetration rate was 44% in fiscal year 2010).

As GAO conducts its review of policy options, the senators ask the agency to give consideration to whether the options meet four criteria: elimination of means testing, budget neutrality, maintaining funding levels that states currently receive from IV-E reimbursements, and ensuring that any state savings achieved are reinvested in serving children in foster care.  The letter also acknowledges the administrative burden that income verification places on child welfare agencies, something raised by frontline workers in CWLA’s recent survey on finance reform.

CWLA believes that the federal government has a responsibility to all children in the foster care system, regardless of their family’s income, and has long advocated elimination of the current AFDC link, most recently in CWLA’s 2012 Legislative Agenda.  As such, we are very supportive of the effort by these three senators to enlist GAO’s time and expertise in furthering the discussion about de-linking.  As senior members of the Senate Finance Committee, including the Chairman and Ranking Member, the senators’ request should be given high priority by the GAO.

ACF Releases Information Memorandum on Child Welfare Waivers

ACF Releases Information Memorandum on Child Welfare Waivers:

The Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services has released a much anticipated Information Memorandumdetailing plans for state child welfare waiver demonstration projects in the coming years. State child welfare agencies are now considering applying for these demonstration projects. For FY 2012 demonstrations, proposals are due July 9.

The priority areas for the waiver demonstrations are to:

1. produce positive well-being outcomes for children, youth and their families;
2. enhance the social and emotional well-being of children and youth;
3. yield more than modest improvements in the lives of children and families; and/or
4. leverage the involvement of other resources and partners to make improvements concurrently through child welfare and related program areas.

The waiver demonstration projects are designed to allow more flexible use of federal funds in order to test new approaches to service delivery and financing structures, in an effort to improve outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system. These demonstration projects involve the waiver of certain requirements of titles IV-E, the section of the Social Security Act that govern the foster care, adoption assistance and optional kinship guardianship assistance programs. They do not however provide additional funding to carry out new services.

The guiding principle of the waiver process is that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that there are promising and effective approaches to improve outcomes for children and families in which abuse and/or neglect has taken place or is likely to take place. However, such approaches are utilized too rarely by many child welfare agencies. The goal of the waivers is to facilitate innovation and experimentation in child welfare programs through the demonstrations and to improve outcomes for children. ACF is encouraging states to consider whether funding flexibility and improvements in the service strategies for children both at risk of foster care placement and those already placed outside the home could lead to better outcomes for children.  

The IM also describes how the public can be involved in the development of strong demonstration projects. CWLA private provider members can play an important role in developing high quality proposals and are encouraged to be involved in the application process. We will be hosting a webinar for CWLA members on this topic with Bryan Samuels, Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families on May 29th. For more information regarding this webinar including registration details please contact us at govaffairs@cwla.org .