Family Rights Group’s Post

📆So far this week, we've had election manifestos from the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and the Green Party. Labour's is due tomorrow. Find a summary about what they say about children's social care in our hub linked below. 📢Family Rights Group works cross-party to put child welfare and kinship care in the rooms where it matters. We’ve presented proposals to all the main political parties and support families to share their views and experiences. 📚Election manifestos are often light on policy detail, but they set out an important direction of travel. For example, in the last general election, there was a commitment to a review into the children’s social care crisis and we helped secure important recognition for kinship care. ❗Now we’ve had the review. We want to see commitment to investment and reform. We need to see an ambitious plan to tackle the crisis in children’s social care, to invest in kinship care for children who cannot remain at home, and support for positive, loving relationships for children in care and care leavers. https://lnkd.in/eqPTnnZC

📆Rumours abound that next week will be manifesto week. Conservative, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are all due to publish their vision for the country. 📢Family Rights Group works cross-party to put child welfare and kinship care in the rooms where it matters. We’ve presented proposals to all the main political parties and support families to share their views and experiences. 📚Election manifestos are often light on policy detail, but they set out an important direction of travel. For example, in the last general election, there was a commitment to a review into the children’s social care crisis and we helped secure important recognition for kinship care. ❗Now we’ve had the review. We want to see the 2024 manifestos commit to investment and reform. We need to see an ambitious plan to tackle the crisis in children’s social care, to invest in kinship care for children who cannot remain at home, and support for positive, loving relationships for children in care and care leavers. https://lnkd.in/eqPTnnZC

We need more energy, effort, innovation and investment into the areas described by my colleagues in this important article.

CAFO President Jedd Medefind and Jeremy Kohomban, President and CEO of The Children’s Village, co-authored an article in this week's Imprint on a groundbreaking Harris Poll commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center showing a rare glimpse of American unity on issues of child welfare. "Polarization has become entrenched in American politics and policy, and the realm of child welfare is not immune to that. The intrusive nature of the work and the presence of persistent racial and class disproportionality have fractured the field into tribes, with some even calling for the abolition of the system entirely. Not so for the American people. Groundbreaking new polling on child welfare reveals a sturdy consensus that crosses many typical political fault lines. Americans remain deeply committed to vulnerable children and families and desire to see our systems hold a strong balance between child safety and family integrity..." Read the full article at The Imprint here: https://lnkd.in/gU-Kkp-q

As a full-time mother, former MOMS Club President and Girl Scouts Troop leader...as that sweaty, disheveled woman in the grocery store in park clothes and a ponytail, not a single name brand in sight and driving her father's beat-up old car... as a homeschooling mom... I adamantly deny that America hates children. All of my daughter's life, we have been treated with kindness, patience, and encouragement by cashiers, store employees, USPS and UPS drivers, firefighters, policemen, and men of every height, weight, and color. Everywhere we went, no matter how rough the neighborhood, people were kind and helpful. They asked me if I needed anything, rushed to help me open doors, cross the street, and carry my purchases. Grandmothers of every race came up to me to smile and tell me that I was doing a good job. They shared stories of their own daughters and daughters-in-law, shaking their heads sadly as they told me: "She has to work." Not in sadness because their families were so impoverished that the mother of an infant child had no choice but to work full-time in order to survive. They sighed in sadness over the mistaken materialistic mentality that traps women into thinking that earning money to buy things and pay others to care for your children is more important than anything else. And therein lies the true root of the problem. If we must blame society for anything, we can blame it for capitalism. Just like the serpent tempted Eve with the prospect of more, consumer culture is a Hydra that keeps us running on that hamster wheel. The list of things we want to buy is never-ending. The list of things we have, but want to upgrade, grows every day. We want everything we want, and we want it all now. And too many of us are willing to sacrifice our children to achieve that goal. For two decades, I worked with children and parents, and saw the dramatic, undeniable difference between a family with a mother, and a family without one. I’m not talking about physical presence. I’m talking about the willingness of the female figure to accept and embrace her role as wife and mother. There is a reason that the number of daycares has dramatically increased, that the IVF industry is booming, and that desperate women are able to earn a pittance letting other women implant babies into their bodies. These things are directly correlated to the vast number of women who see the responsibilities of a wife and mother as degradation. Work that is considered so far beneath them, that it can only be entrusted to uneducated, vulnerable immigrants who don’t speak English and are willing to work for a third of your salary. I’m not the only American woman I know who chooses to invest in her family, and in doing so, invest in her own growth, confidence, and joy as a woman. I value the friendships and community of women of all ages who have made the same choice. I value the society that supports us; despite the loud voices of women who would rather die than live like us.

Summary of the press release by the Minister of Children and Family Development: The government is committed to a new approach to child welfare following the release of the Don't Look Away investigation and systemic review. The focus is on keeping children, youth, and families safe and connected to the support they need. This will involve a cross-ministry group of senior public officials, the development of a child and youth action plan, an outcomes-based framework for measurement and accountability, strengthened information sharing between ministries and service providers, and addressing the causes and ongoing impacts of family and gender-based violence, especially for Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit people, and children. The government will also work to improve child and family services, including legislation to pave the way for Indigenous governing bodies to resume jurisdiction for their child and family services and increase support for youth transitioning from care. They are committed to working with First Nations, Indigenous partners, and community agencies to ensure families have a path to thrive and succeed. Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/dQcZUcJv

NCSEA-Supported Child Support Bill Heading for House Passage House Republican staff have alerted NCSEA that the Strengthening State and Tribal Child Support Enforcement (H.R. 7906; https://lnkd.in/eGTYy_fj) is likely to be up for a floor vote next week under suspension of the rules. Bills under suspension are deemed non-controversial by both parties and are subject to no debate. Supported by NCSEA in partnership with the National Council of Child Support Directors, the National Tribal Child Support Association and the National Association of Tribal Child Support Directors, the measure would resolve a long-standing discrepancy in interpretation under the Internal Revenue Code of the use and definition of contractors who are integral partners with public agencies in obtaining financial support for children and their families. Importantly, the legislation also gives tribal child support agencies the same abilities and tools as states to pursue and collect support. Tribal advocates have been pursuing such capabilities for many years. NCSEA sent this alert (https://lnkd.in/eJDjfiEA) to the Hill earlier this year to urge members to cosponsor the bill. Association members worked with other national groups to garner their support for the bill, including a National Governors Association letter signed by 26 governors, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Association of Counties. The child support bill will be combined with another bipartisan measure – the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (H.R.9076; https://lnkd.in/e_Ddwptt). That bill would reauthorize child welfare prevention programs (https://lnkd.in/eEpYhsES) under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act. The Way and Means Committee passed (https://lnkd.in/dDGks7AX) both bills on July 24th. The bills are being combined on the floor to position the bills to be passed as a package in the Senate. The Senate has a very similar child support measure (S. 3154; https://lnkd.in/eCYNp5K9) and awaits final House action before it considers the bills.

Child welfare personnel can and should do better.

Backing kids means backing their parents. All kids need their parents to step up and fight for them. This is especially the case if your children are in out-of-home care or when child protection authorities are hovering. Yet our current child protection system just gets in the way of parents fighting for their kids. How can we change the system and create the conditions for parents and family to lead and participate, to build on their strengths instead of silencing them for their weaknesses? Our article published by the James Martin Institute for Public Policy proposes that parent and family leadership at a systems level can help make this change a reality. It's not a vague concept. There are tangible and practical examples and strategies. Parent and family leadership is evidence based and within our reach. Have a read and let us know what you think. Ben Spence Rob Ryan Stride Winston Churchill Trust (Australia) Association of Children's Welfare Agencies Shantelle Common Nicola Ross Kate Washington MP #childrensrights #parentadvocacy #familyinclusion #childprotection

Neglect is the leading cause of child welfare referrals in Wisconsin and is also the form of maltreatment with the lowest substantiation rate—only about 12% of neglect investigations lead to substantiation. Consider the reliability of a medical test that only correctly identifies an issue 12% of the time—would such a diagnostic tool be trustworthy? Between 2018 and 2022, there were nearly 100,000 unsubstantiated neglect investigations in Wisconsin. This high number not only impacts families but also burdens communities with limited resources. It creates a rift between stressed families who need support and the systems designed to provide that support, often leading to distrust. If you're interested in a deeper conversation about the effects and challenges of mandated reporting in Wisconsin, we invite you to join the conversation in our online Community Collaboration space hosted by the SFTCCC on mandated reporting. This is an opportunity to discuss, learn, and contribute to meaningful change in our child welfare practices: https://lnkd.in/gNf5hJbN #ChildWelfare #Neglect #MandatedReporting #Wisconsin #CommunityEngagement