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Jan 28, 2004

Statement of The Honorable Bill Frenzel, Chairman, Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care

For the last nine months, I have been privileged to chair the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, a task I share with my colleague, former Representative Bill Gray.  This independent, nonpartisan commission, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, includes some of the wisest and most experienced individuals in the field of child welfare.  You heard from one of them this morning, New York City Commissioner William Bell.  The other members of our Commission are no less impressive. 

 

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Issue Brief
Sep 20, 2005

The Student Debt Dilemma

When student loans are the only way to pay for college, who decides how much debt a degree is worth? This paper explores how debt aversion and conflicting views about the role of student loans affect young people, their families, and those who advise them.

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Report
Apr 2, 2006

''Fixing The Nation's Foster Care System''

"Our nation's foster care system is far from perfect, and its casualties are vulnerable children. As a young woman who spent more than half of her life in foster care, and a judge who oversees foster care cases, we witness its impact firsthand.On average, children remain in foster care for three years, and move three times. They are separated from friends, siblings and family for long, uncertain periods of time, and can grow out of foster care without becoming part of a loving, permanent family."

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Opinion
May 30, 2006

''On Foster Care: Why Foster Care Reform Must Happen''

"'Let me stay in a home with loving parents that care for me,' writes Antoinette, age 14, in her poem, "To the Judge." "I want to be somewhere where I can live life as a child, in a better situation. Can you find a home that is truly good and where the people will help me?"In California, we are responsible for 8

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Opinion
Sep 7, 2006

''For Children Raised by Grandparents, Every Day is Grandparents' Day''

"'I raised my grandchildren. I had to because I had no alternative but to raise them,' Dorothy, age 79, says of her grandchildren. "I had to take my little Social Security and my retirement benefits and take care of these kids. I don't know how I did it."Dorothy is remarkable, but not unusual. Rather than let he

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Opinion
Jul 2, 2007

Overview of Child Welfare Services in Washington State

Compared to other states, child welfare is high on the list of legislative priorities in Washington.  This high level of legislative activity can be attributed in part to a number of recent events that are briefly described below.  In addition, the legislature, particularly the House, has a number of experienced champions of children's issues, including Rep. Ruth Kagi, chair of the House Early Learning and Children's Services Committee, and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, chair of the House Human Services Committee, among others. 

 

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Issue Brief
Sep 3, 2007

Overview of Child Welfare Services in Tennessee State

Tennessee's child welfare system has undergone dramatic changes over the past few years.  Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, child welfare in Tennessee was under-funded and fragmented among six state agencies that failed to communicate with one another or coordinate their efforts.  In 1996, a single state agency, the Department of Children's Services (DCS) was created by executive order to house child welfare and juvenile justice services.  In 2000, Children's Rights, a national non-profit that advocates for children in foster care, filed a class action lawsuit, claiming over-utilization of emergency shelters and large group facilities, untrained caseworkers, high levels of placement instability, inadequate efforts to achieve permanency, inadequate educational services and disparate treatment of African-American children in foster care.

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Issue Brief
Oct 1, 2007

Overview of Child Welfare Services in Michigan State

Michigan is experiencing severe economic and fiscal problems due primarily to a downturn in the automobile industry, resulting in a budget deficit of approximately $856.4 million at the end of the state's 2007 fiscal year (September 30).  Because of these issues, many of the state's budget bills are still being debated as of the date of this memo.  The human services budget bill, SB 232, was passed by the Senate on August 22, 2007.  The House passed an amended version of the bill on September 6, 2007.  The bill is currently in conference committee.  This memo will summarize those provisions in the bills that are relevant to reform of federal child welfare financing.  When a budget is finally approved and signed by the Governor, this memo will be updated. 

 

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Issue Brief
Nov 19, 2007

American Indian Children Overrepresented in Nation's Foster Care System, New Report Finds

American Indian and Alaskan Native children are overrepresented in the nation's foster care system at more than 1.6 times the expected level, according to a new report by the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and the national, nonpartisan Kids Are Waiting campaign, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Yet tribal governments are excluded from some of the largest sources of federal child welfare funding.

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Press Release
Dec 6, 2007

Overview of Child Welfare Services in Montana

Child welfare services in Montana are administered by Child and Family Services Division (CFSD) within the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.  Recent events and initiatives of note are the federal CFSR in 2002 and resulting PIP, completed successfully in 2006, and a study of the child welfare system in the summer of 2006 by the legislative Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee.  Both of these events have focused attention on child welfare in Montana. 

 

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Issue Brief
Dec 12, 2007

Time for Reform: Hoping for a Home for the Holidays

Each year, more than 500,000 children spend the holidays in foster care. In some cases the holidays may be spent with extended family, but more often it is spent with foster families to whom children are not related, or in group homes or institutional settings. Although foster care is an important safety net for children who have suffered abuse or neglect, being in foster care is not always easy.

 

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Report
Dec 12, 2007

“Hoping for a Home for the Holidays” Highlights Experiences of Foster Children without a Safe, Permanent Family

Many current and former foster youth say that celebrating holidays without a permanent family is a tremendous challenge.  Today, former foster youth from across the country joined policy makers and child welfare advocates to stuff holiday stockings for children currently in the foster care system at a Congressional reception sponsored by FosterClub.  The event also marked release of a new brief, “Hoping for a Home for the Holidays,” by FosterClub and Kids Are Waiting, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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Press Release
Dec 17, 2007

''When a Child Can't Be Home for Christmas''

"For youth from foster care, the holidays are often a stark reminder of what it means not to have a family. We miss the comfort of knowing we have a place where we are always welcome, year after year. We don't know the family traditions of mom's best tablecloth and china, dad's carving the turkey, grandma's famous stuffing recipe, football in the den with the cousins, or even the inevitable family dramas."

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Opinion
Jan 1, 2008

Overview of Child Welfare Services in Ohio State

Ohio's child welfare system is state-supervised and county-administered.  A number of recent developments and converging trends may have a significant impact on child welfare financing in Ohio.

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Issue Brief
Jan 23, 2008

Home At Last: Safe, Permanent Families for Foster Children

The Pew Charitable Trusts launched the Home at Last initiative in 2003 to advance public policies that would keep children from languishing in foster care.

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Issue Brief