Lawmakers hear hours of testimony for and against 'Affirming Families First' bill The House Judiciary Committee heard extensive pro‑ and con‑testimony on House Bill 693, the Affirming Families First Act, which would limit state and contractor actions that treat parents as abusive for refusing to 'affirm' a child's claimed gender identity. Witnesses offered legal analysis, personal stories of family court and foster care experiences, and contested claims about clinical evidence and agency practices.

The House Judiciary Committee is at the heart of a heated debate over the Affirming Families First Act, a bill that could reshape parental rights in Ohio by limiting state interventions in children's gender identity choices.

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#OH #CitizenPortal #PolicyDebate #ChildWelfare

Who’s doing child welfare better than Louisiana? Here’s the answer. • Louisiana Illuminator No place does child welfare well, but there are a few places that do better than the rest. At one point, one of them was in Louisiana.

ICYMI: Frustrated by the failure of @LouisianaDCFS, a lawmaker wants to know who’s doing better. We answer in the Louisiana Illuminator: lailluminator.com/2026/03/25/w... #childabuse #fostercare #childwelfare

20,000 teens age out of foster care every year.

If you’ve ever considered adoption, please consider an older child.

Full video + resources: youtu.be/DQfBJrhkHq8

@kidsave.org @fosterclub.bsky.social

#adoption #fostercare #adopt #childwelfare

Senate HHS issues due‑pass recommendations on multiple health and child‑welfare bills At its March 24 hearing the Senate Health and Human Services Committee issued due‑pass recommendations or adopted amendments for several bills, including HB 2035 (kinship care), HB 2611 (youth safety), HB 2733 (pharmacy rules), HB 2830 (education standards amendment), HB 2932 (lab reimbursement amendment) and HB 4004 (DCS investigations).

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has just advanced critical bills impacting kinship care, youth safety, and pharmacy regulations—what does this mean for Arizona's future?

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#AZ #YouthSafety #CitizenPortal #HealthReform #ChildWelfare #ArizonaHealthCare

Senate HHS advances bill to strengthen kinship foster care; DCS flags reporting timing concern HB 2035, which would presume extended family members be considered for kinship foster placement and require written findings when kinship is denied, received a due‑pass recommendation after proponents described benefits for children and Department of Child Safety staff said one implementation provision may create timing conflicts with protective hearings.

Arizona's Senate is taking a bold step to strengthen kinship foster care by recognizing extended family members as vital placements for children's well-being.

Learn more here

#AZ #CitizenPortal #ChildWelfare #FosterCareReform #FamilyFirstPolicy #ArizonaKinshipCare

House confirms Christina Gio as child advocate after heated floor debate over homeschooling remarks The House approved House Joint Resolution 62 confirming Christina Gio as child advocate. Debate split lawmakers: supporters cited her record holding DCF accountable; opponents said her testimony about homeschooling and related data was biased. The clerk announced the resolution adopted after a roll call; the transcript contains inconsistent numeric formatting for the roll tally.

Christina Gio's confirmation as Connecticut's child advocate sparked fierce debates, highlighting deep divides over her remarks on homeschooling and child welfare.

Read the full story

#CT #CivicAccountability #CitizenPortal #EducationPolicy #ChildWelfare

➡️ Save the date for a new #webinar opportunity with OCYF's Dr. Berger!

Announcing Medical 201: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Drug Testing in Children; April 23 from 10-11 a.m.

📆 Mark your calendars now - registration info coming soon. 📆

#Medical201 ##drugtesting #childwelfare

Who’s doing child welfare better than Louisiana? Here’s the answer. • Louisiana Illuminator No place does child welfare well, but there are a few places that do better than the rest. At one point, one of them was in Louisiana.

NCCPR in Louisiana Illuminator re: Louisiana lawmaker who wants to know who’s doing #childwelfare better than his state: No place does it well, but the places that do better have one thing in common. lailluminator.com/2026/03/25/w... #childabuse #fostercare

#youthincare often have to navigate #housing alone. Housing First for Youth is essential in ensuring access to safe, stable homes and support as they #transition to adulthood.

📹 Watch our video: buff.ly/XITeMCr

#StandWithYouthinCare #childwelfare #EquitableStandards #HF4Y #youthhomelessness

Who’s doing child welfare better than Louisiana? Here’s the answer. • Louisiana Illuminator No place does child welfare well, but there are a few places that do better than the rest. At one point, one of them was in Louisiana.

Frustrated by the failure of Louisiana DCFS, a lawmaker wants to know who’s doing better. We answer in @lailluminator.com: lailluminator.com/2026/03/25/w... #childabuse #fostercare #childwelfare

Committee extends Department of Children's Services oversight and hears commissioner on reforms Chairman Jackson's bill to extend the Department of Children's Services' authorization passed the committee after testimony by Commissioner Margie Quinn, who outlined staffing, housing and system upgrades and reported budget and custody metrics.

Tennessee's Department of Children's Services is undergoing major reforms, with a new bill paving the way for improved facilities and support for vulnerable youth.

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#TN #CitizenPortal #FosterCare #TennesseeChildrenServices #ChildWelfare #SystemReform

Senate subcommittee hears OCS update on HB 151 implementation; agency cites staffing shortfalls, training changes and system funding gaps Acting Commissioner Tracy Dompley and OCS Director Kim Graham told a March 24 Senate budget subcommittee that implementation of HB 151 (Part 3 audit) led to training and hiring changes but that OCS faces a roughly 25% vacancy rate, high frontline turnover and reduced federal IT reimbursement that will require state offset funding.

Alaska's child protection agency is grappling with a staggering 25% vacancy rate and high turnover, raising concerns about the stability of children's placements in foster care.

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#AK #CitizenPortal #AlaskaChildrensServices #ChildWelfare #TrainingImprovement #StaffingChallenges

Senate committee advances bill to bar abuse charges based solely on poverty after heated testimony A Senate committee gave House Bill 2041 a due-pass recommendation after testimony from advocates and survivors about Department of Child Safety (DCS) investigations that tie neglect allegations to poverty. Supporters called the bill a narrow protection for families; opponents said an earlier amendment removing poverty from the neglect definition was wrongly deleted.

A Senate committee has advanced a controversial bill that aims to protect families from abuse charges rooted in poverty, igniting passionate debate among advocates and lawmakers alike.

Read the full story

#AZ #FamilyProtection #CitizenPortal #PovertyReform #ChildWelfare #ArizonaChildren

For many poor mothers, “support” looks like surveillance. Welfare, housing, and child welfare track where you live, who is in your home, and how you parent. Reproductive justice means help without being watched and punished.

#ReproductiveJustice #WelfareSurveillance #ChildWelfare #LdnOnt

New and free to read in #ChildrenAustralia: Practitioners’ views on training and systemic barriers to deal with child sexual exploitation in residential care
By Emma Rees, Ben Mathews and Conrad Townson
https://doi.org/10.61605/cha_3071

#ChildSexualExploitation #ResidentialCare #ChildWelfare

Pilot training: #SupervisingforRetention in #ChildWelfare, April 30-May 1 in Mechanicsburg!

2-day training for CW supervisors that explores the ways supervisors support the professional development & #retention of supervisees. 14 CEs total. Email cwtpreg@pitt.edu or contact your RSS to register.

Repealing the Presumption of Parental Involvement: Reform Without Opposition? | Both Parents Matter Both Parents Matter is dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to maintain meaningful relationships with both parents and their wider family after separation.

Very happy to share "Both Parents Matter" views on plans to remove the presumption that children benefit from involvement from both parents
bothparentsmatter.org.uk/repealing-th...

#BothParentsMatter #Presumption #FamilyCourt #FamilyLaw #ChildWelfare

Wormy food, intimidating guards, sick kids: Inside ICE’s only family detention center First-person accounts paint a bleak picture of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center.

Wormy Food, Intimidating Guards, Sick Kids: Inside ICE’s Only Family Detention Center

#immigration #Dilley #childwelfare #ICE #LiamRamos #ICE #DHS #Trump #Racism

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

NCCPR news and commentary round-up, week ending March 25, 2026 We start this week with three items from New York City, and my usual reminder: New York has one of the least bad systems in the country; whe...

Our weekly round-up of #familypreservation journalism and commentary www.nccprblog.org/2026/03/nccp... #childwelfare #childabuse #fostercare

Innovative Ohio program lets moms in recovery live with their children In Trumbull County, the Brighter Beginnings recovery center is part of a state effort to transform how parents who are battling substance abuse experience recovery.The new facility is a partner

In Trumbull County, #Ohio, a recovery center called Brighter Beginnings is part of the state’s START effort, supporting parents battling substance use as they work toward stability with their children. In year one: 6 families reunified.
#Recovery #SubstanceUse #FamilySupport #ChildWelfare #Housing

A Tool, Connector, or Data Processor: On the Multiplicity of an Algorithm and Its Worlds - Ida Schrøder, Helene Friis Ratner, Laura Kocksch, 2026 This paper explores the development of an algorithm for child welfare administration in Denmark. Based on an ethnographic study of the development process, we a...

New OnlineFirst (OA) article: "A Tool, Connector, or Data Processor: On the Multiplicity of an Algorithm and Its Worlds" by Ida Schrøder, Helene Friis Ratner, and Laura Kocksch #heterogenousengineering #multiplicity #childwelfare #decisionsupport journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

How American Kids Have Been Collateral Damage in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown via ProPublica — The post How American Kids Have Been Collateral Damage in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown appeared first on ProPublica .

Trump's immigration policies separated thousands of U.S.-born children from their undocumented parents, causing lasting tra...

Stay informed → resist47.news

#resist47 #ImmigrationCrackdown
#AmericanKids
#FamilySeparation
#ChildWelfare

One-person project. Help keep it going: ko-fi.com/resist47news

Text slide "Severing Cultural Ties" noting the goal of the Sixties Scoop was to assimilate children by placing them in non-Indigenous homes.

Text slide "The AIM Program" describing a Saskatchewan state-sponsored campaign that advertised Indigenous children to white families.

Text slide "Intergenerational Trauma" explaining how forced family separation disrupted the transmission of culture and language.

Text slide "The Millennium Scoop" highlighting that Indigenous children currently make up over 53% of children in Canadian foster care.

The Sixties Scoop and programs like AIM scooped children into non-Indigenous homes, severing cultural ties and causing deep intergenerational trauma. Today, this continues as the "Millennium Scoop." 🧵 2/3

#EveryChildMatters #ChildWelfare

Episode 41: How Evidence-Based Research Could Transform the Child Welfare System A2J Lab Director and Professor Jim Greiner sat down with five A2J Lab staff members to discuss “Mother Up”, a DC guaranteed income pre-pilot program with Mothers Outreach Network for Bl…

Our latest #ProofOverPrecedent episode talks with staff members about our Mother Up guaranteed income project with @mothersoutreach.bsky.social. Hear about the study, initial results, and plans for the currently-enrolling Phase III study. buff.ly/IPNQbCb #GuaranteedIncome #ChildWelfare

Joint Ways and Means hearing in Mattapan reviews FY27 health and human services budget; members press agencies on cuts, staffing and service access The Joint Committee on Ways and Means held an FY27 budget hearing in Mattapan focused on health and human services. Agency leaders described program priorities and funding requests — from disability and communication access to refugee legal services, veterans care, child welfare, developmental services and SNAP — while legislators pressed on cuts, staffing and the risk of federal funding shifts.

Massachusetts lawmakers are demanding answers on critical funding for health and human services as budget hearings reveal potential cuts and rising needs in communities.

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#MA #VeteransCare #CitizenPortal #DisabilitySupport #ChildWelfare

Safe Passage: Minnesota child maltreatment fatalities rose; report urges stronger standards and data transparency Safe Passage told the Children and Families Committee its review of 44 child fatalities from mid‑2023 to end of 2024 shows a 40% rise in deaths, with neglect implicated in 63% of cases and fentanyl a factor in one in five. The group urged statewide standards, more services, and public data access.

Child maltreatment fatalities in Minnesota have surged by 40%, with neglect and fentanyl playing alarming roles in these tragic outcomes.

Learn more here

#MN #DataTransparency #CitizenPortal #MinnesotaChildren #ChildWelfare #DomesticViolence

Queensland children falling behind on development, housing stress crushing families University of Queensland report reveals 24% of Queensland children miss developmental milestones, with housing stress and food insecurity affecting families.

Queensland children falling behind on development, housing stress crushing families

#Queensland #ChildWelfare #HousingCrisis #AusNews

thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-23-queen...

Congratulations Phoenix: When it comes to tearing apart families in big cities, you’re still #1! Bipartisanship in action! In Arizona both parties have failed the state's children (This post is adapted from NCCPR’s press release to Ari...

ICYMI: When it comes to traumatizing children and tearing apart families in big cities, the winner and still champion is Phoenix, Arizona: www.nccprblog.org/2026/03/cong... childabuse #fostercare #childwelfare

#ChildProtection #ChildWelfare #ChildSafety
#FosterCare

What trauma looks like in Philly foster kids — and where to turn for help Here’s a look at the CHOP program helping foster families deal with children’s past trauma and mental health struggles.

“When there aren’t enough resources to go around, having a child who is in acute crisis but not having an appropriate place to be able to direct the family can cause significant stress for the child who’s in crisis.” whyy.org/articles/phi... #trauma #childwelfare #fostercare