September is National Infant Mortality Awareness Month. This is an important awareness campaign, and on September 23rd, the Senate passed a Resolution supporting its values and goals. However, you may be wondering what it has to do with Child Welfare policy. Well, I'm glad you asked! First, some background. This observance was established by the National Healthy Start Association, which...

Dr. Jack Shonkoff, co-editor of From Neurons to Neighborhoods, spoke at the symposium "Applying the Science of Early Childhood Development to Child Welfare Policy and Practices" in Oregon last month. Shonkoff, along with Philip A. Fisher a University of Oregon psychology professor, emphasized the neurological basis for the developmental, social, and behavioral problems of very young children experiencing toxic stress....

On the 21st and 22nd the House and Senate, respectively, passed H.R. 2883: Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. H.R. 2883 was sponsored by Geoff Davis [R-KY4] and cosponsored by 16 additional legislators (listed at the end of this post). This bill's companion legislation is S. 1542, which was introduced by Max Baucus [D-MT] and passed the Senate...

Hello again! Over the past few weeks we have been working to revamp our policy blog and plan for the upcoming legislative session here in Minnesota. Below you will find our child welfare legislative roundup for the month of September so far. For the remainder of September we will be highlighting the federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation...