According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation report on reducing juvenile incarceration, well over 60,000 young people are confined to correctional facilities or other residential programs for juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is broadly defined and encompasses a range of offenses from serious and violent to petty and minor. Conditions within such facilities and even within the foster care system can...
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October 2011 Archives
The bill HR 433, introduced by Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann on October 12, 2011, highlights the importance of supporting the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day (November 19, 2011) and National Adoption Month (November). In addition to supporting National Adoption Month and Day, the bill's purpose is also to recognize that every child in foster care deserves a permanent...
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Minnesota Law defining marriage as a civil contract between a man and a woman was established in 1976. In 1996 the federal government signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The act defined 'marriage' as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and 'spouse' as a person of the opposite sex who is...
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Did you know that the average annual cost of housing juveniles in a locked facility is $88,000 per person? As a whole, states spend approximately $6,000,000,000 a year on incarcerated youth. In addition to the cost, incarcerated youth are 50 times more likely to recidivate than their counterparts who remain in the community. Finally, 70 percent of incarcerated youth have...
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October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month so CASCW is taking this opportunity to highlight the intersection of DV and child welfare. Minnesota's Domestic Abuse Act defines domestic violence as the infliction of physical harm, infliction of the fear of imminent physical harm, terrorist threats, criminal sexual conduct, and interference with a 911 call, committed by "one family or household...
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The bill H. R. 3126: 'Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011' was proposed on October 6, 2011 to require certain standards and enforcement provisions to prevent child abuse and neglect in residential programs. What residential programs fall under this bill? This bill would cover private and public programs such as a program with a wilderness...
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The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and the Center for Early Education and Development are cosponsoring a Round Table Discussion regarding how early childhood development and child welfare practice interact. This event will be held on Thursday, November 3rd at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The discussion, entitled "Mobilizing Hope: Using a Developmental Approach in Child Welfare," will...
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Today is World Mental Health Day. This year's theme is "The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health," with a call for governments and others to invest in policies and approaches for removing barriers to mental health services and investing in prevention efforts as a cost-savings measure. In observance of this day, I feel it is important to highlight the need...
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H. R. 3076 was introduced on October 3, 2011. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Internal Revenue Code to qualify formerly homeless youth who are students for purposes of the low income housing tax credit. The bill affects those youth identified as homeless by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act sec. 725, which includes those children awaiting foster...
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I'm Lindsay Brekke. I am currently finishing my graduate degree in Social Work at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. I am completing my internship at the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and focusing on child welfare policy. My interests are youth aging out-of-foster care and foster parent training and support. What's to come with posts from me! Have...
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Hello! My name is Danielle Hegseth and I am currently in my last year of Graduate School, completing a Master's in Social Work and a Master's in Public Policy. My areas of study include program evaluation, policy analysis, early intervention, and early childhood educational policy. I will be writing about the intersections of early childhood education, homelessness, disparities, and early...
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You may have noticed that we have begun posting blog entries under individual author names, rather than the organization's name. This is due to the addition of new team members contributing to our blog's content. As our blog redesign nears completion, we will be changing our blog content slightly: Rather than focusing on a monthly theme in child welfare policy,...
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