Public Policy Update: July 2010

• Health Insurance Reform Benefits Foster Children
• Undocumented Immigrant Children in the Child Welfare System May Be Eligible for Legal Status
• Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Ages 23 and 24
• HHS Releases 2008 Statistics on Child Abuse and Neglect
• National Incidence Study Finds Race Differences in Child Maltreatment Rates
• National CASA Board Approves 2010 Public Policy Agenda
• National CASA Represents Network and Children at Policy Briefings and Meetings

Health Insurance Reform Benefits Foster Children

The new health insurance reform law includes numerous provisions aimed at improving the health and well-being of children, youth and vulnerable adults.

• The new law provides Medicaid coverage to children who have been in foster care to continue up to the age of 26, effective in 2014.
• For children aging out of foster care and independent living programs, the new law mandates information be available about the importance of having a health care power of attorney to make health care decisions on behalf of the child who does not have a relative authorized to decide.
• A provision of the new law expands the adoption credit and adoption assistance program, increasing each by $1,000, makes the credit refundable and extends the credit through 2011, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2009.

Excerpted from Washington Memorandum, March 24, 2010, Vol. 30, No. 5, The National Child Abuse Coalition.

Undocumented Immigrant Children in the Child Welfare System May Be Eligible for Legal Status

The Migrant Policy Institute estimates that 23% of children in the US live in immigrant families, and that children of immigrants represent 8.6% of all children who come to the attention of the child welfare system.

In many cases, undocumented immigrant children who are in state custody because of abuse and neglect are eligible to remain in the US and obtain lawful permanent residence. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is the most common lawful status available to immigrant youth. Application for SIJS status must be approved before the youth is emancipated from foster care. Three findings by the juvenile court must be made in order for the child to be eligible for SIJS status: 1) the court declares the child to be court-dependent or ward of the state; a finding that the child cannot be reunified with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect or abandonments, with reference to supporting facts; and 3) a finding that it is not in the child’s best interest to return to the country of origin.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center provides a collection of fact sheets on Immigrant Options for Undocumented Immigrant Children, March, 2010, funded by the Vera Institute of Justice. The center notes that the fact sheets are for quick reference only. Additional information and assistance may be available through the list of other resources listed in the publication. Advocates and CASA/GAL program staff should file this document for future reference when working with undocumented immigrant children.

The Migration and Child Welfare National Network at the American Humane Association has also offered to serve as a resource for CASA/GAL program staff and volunteers on immigration cases. The network has resources in most states to which they can refer advocates. Contact American Humane for referral information.

Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Ages 23 and 24

The fourth wave of research on foster youth by Chapin Hall and the University of Washington was released in April, 2010, providing new evidence of outcomes for former foster youth. Commonly referenced as “the Midwest Study,” baseline interviews were first conducted with 732 foster youth ages 17–18 in 2002–2003 from the states of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. 82% of these youth participated in the fourth wave, conducted 2008–2009, when participants were 23–24 years old. It is the most comprehensive longitudinal study we have for youth transitioning out of foster care. See Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth.

Some of the interesting findings learned from these youth studies include:

• Two thirds of respondents felt that they were fortunate to have been placed in foster care, with more than one half expressing satisfaction with their experience while in the child welfare system.
• Even though they had originally been removed from their home for safety and protection, 79% reported feeling very close, and another 15% reported feeling somewhat close to at least one biological family member.
• At the age of 23–24, former foster youth continue to lag behind their peers in education. One quarter did not have a high school diploma or GED, and just 6% obtained a 2- or 4- year college degree.
• 55% of young women had given birth by the age of 21, climbing to 67% by the time they reached 23–24. Nearly all live with at least one child. Whereas only 18% of young men who have parented a child(ren) live with a child when they are 23–24.
• Economic well-being is a hardship for this group. More than 25% had no income from employment in the past year, while 50% of those who had worked earned less than $8,000 throughout the year.
• “Connectedness,” defined as either working or enrolled in school, is a bit more encouraging. Nearly 60% of both young women and men were working or enrolled in school by this age. When the definition is expanded to include a relationship with custodial parents, it increases to 87% of young women and 63% of young men are considered connected.

More data is available in the full report (see above link) that can be very helpful in describing the issues and outcomes for older foster youth, and in making the case for CASA advocacy. The report also includes a chapter describing trends among foster youth throughout the time of the study, i.e., between their ages of 16-17, to age 23-24.

An equally interesting report, based upon the same research, is Distinct Subgroups of Former Foster Youth during Young Adulthood . The report applies the research to define common characteristics, experiences and outcomes among the youth. This provides a perspective that can be helpful in understanding risk and protective factors in order to best assist this youth population. The former foster youth are categorized into four subgroups, each of which is distinct from the other and clearly would require different approaches and services to support their young adulthood.

• The largest group of former foster youth (36%) are described as Accelerated Adults, those who had to grow up and assume adult responsibilities faster than their peers. They have successfully made key transitions, such as living independently, completion of secondary education, and raising a child.
• 25% of the sample are described as Struggling Parents. They are the least likely to have finished high school, attended college, or currently enrolled in school. Their lives are dominated by parenting at this point in time.
• Emerging Adults, at 21% of the sample youth population, are more akin to what we would expect from the general youth population at age 23–24. They completed high school, have some college education, perhaps employment, and are less likely to have children.
• The fourth subgroup, just 17.5 % of the study group, is described as Troubled and Troubling. This group needs more extensive services, over a longer period of time, as they have psychosocial issues and are challenged to fit within the community. They are most likely to have mental health and substance use problems, been homeless or couch surfed. They also report the lowest levels of support services and highest rate of victimization.

HHS Releases 2008 Statistics on Child Abuse and Neglect

The US Department of Health and Human Services has released Child Maltreatment 2008, an annual report of data collected from the state child protective services (CPS) agencies via the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.

According to the new report:

• An estimated 772,000 children were found to be victims of abuse or neglect during 2008. This number shows a continued decline from 2006, when 905,000 children were found to be victims of maltreatment.
• An estimated 3.3 million referrals were made to CPS agencies in 2008, involving the alleged maltreatment of approximately 6.0 million children. 62.5% of the referrals were screened.
• An estimated 1,740 children died from abuse or neglect. 80% of fatalities were among children less than four years old; children less than one year old represent 40% of the fatalities.
• Approximately 80.1% of perpetrators were parents, and another 6.5% were other relatives.
• Nearly 20% of child victims became the subject of court proceedings. Court-appointed representatives were assigned to 14.7% of victims, based upon data that states were able to report to HHS.

National Incidence Study Finds Race Differences in Child Maltreatment Rates

The most recent National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, the NIS-4, found race differences in maltreatment rates, with black children experiencing maltreatment at higher rates than white children in several categories—differences that were not found in any of the previous NIS reports. A new research paper from the Administration for Children and Families' Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE), Supplementary Analyses of Race Differences in Child Maltreatment Rates in the NIS-4, reports on efforts to understand this finding.

In the report, authors Andrea J. Sedlak, Karla McPherson, and Barnali Das examine two possible explanations for why the NIS-4 found statistically reliable race differences in rates of some categories of child maltreatment. They conclude that the finding is at least partly a consequence of the greater precision of the NIS-4 estimates and partly due to the enlarged gap between black and white children in economic well-being. Socioeconomic status is the strongest predictor of maltreatment rates, and incomes of black families have not kept pace with incomes of white families since the NIS-3 data of 1993 (emphasis added).

Excerpted from the Children’s Bureau Express, May 2010, Vol. 11, No. 4

National CASA Board Approves 2010 Public Policy Agenda

Approved, National CASA Board of Trustees, April 17, 2010

The National CASA Association encourages Congress to:

1.      Sustain FY 2011 funding of at least $15 million for the CASA program which is authorized in the Violence Against Women Act (PL 109 – 271). Congress has appropriated $15 million in FY 2009 and FY 2010.

2.      Extend GAL advocacy to children in tribal court dependency proceedings.

3.      Enact Foster Care Financing reform to support children and promote permanency.

• Allow IV – E flexibility for prevention of child abuse, including home visitation
• Expand eligibility for foster care and adoption assistance to all children in out of home care
• Extend IV – E to CASA advocacy for children in the court system because of abuse or neglect.

4.      Assure states have a process to determine eligibility of children who have been abused or neglected to become legal permanent residents under the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) provisions of existing immigration law.

5.      Reauthorize and increase funding for state grants in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

6.      Implement standards to protect youth against abuse in residential programs.

7.      Support convening of a White House Conference on Children and Youth.

8.      Provide children in foster care with school stability and equal access to educational opportunities.

9.      Enact the Crime Victims Fund Preservation Act of 2009 (HR 3402/S 1340) to ensure adequate funding ongoing stable services to support critical crime victims services.

10. Ensure financial stability for every youth leaving foster care.

 Please contact M. Carmela Welte for information about any of the above proposals or other policy issues.

National CASA Represents Network and Children at Policy Briefings and Meetings

National CASA represented the network of programs and children served by attending dozens of meetings with congressional offices and federal agencies between March-June 2010. Principal areas of policy discussion included the need to expand CASA advocacy for children; immigration issues for youth in the system who are eligible for legal status; and the need for flexibility in child welfare financing.

• 60 personal appointments with members of Congress and staff
• Transitioning Out of Foster Care Workshop and Symposium, National Governor’s Association Learning Network on Youth, Washington, DC, April 6, 8
• Improving Outcomes for Youth in Transition, Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, DC, April 7
• National Summit on Effective Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success Act, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, New York City, April 15–16
• Quality Improvement Center on Representation of Children in Child Welfare Cases Advisory Board, Washington, DC, April 26–27
• National Child Abuse Coalition meeting with representatives of the Children’s Bureau, NCANDS and Senate HELP Committee staff, Washington, DC, April 29
• US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce Justice hearing, testimony of Attorney General Eric Holder on Justice budget request for FY 2011, Washington, DC, May 6
• Zero to Three Advisory Group, Washington, DC, May 7
• National Foster Care Coalition meeting, Washington, DC, May 11
• Senate Caucus on Foster Youth briefing on Older Youth in Foster Care, Washington, DC, May 12
• Congressional Briefing on Child Welfare: Overview of State Child Welfare Waiver Programs and State Innovative Practices, June 11, 2010
• Meeting with Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary, US Dept of Justice, June 23, 2010
• Meeting with HHS Commissioner Bryan Samuels, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, June 24, 2010