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2010 Child Welfare Policy Agenda
NAPCWA released key recommendations to the 111th Congress and the new Obama Administration. NAPCWA priorities include restructuring the current child welfare financing system and reforming the Child and Family Services Review process. All children need one comprehensive financing and monitoring system.
Currently, states and counties must pull together a patchwork of fragmented federal funding streams to provide services and supports to children and families. Federal financing is disproportionately directed towards out-of-home placements such as foster care and adoption. These funds are unavailable for services that keep children safe at home with their families.
States and counties recognize the need for accountability by monitoring allocated federal funding. Monitoring should be a fair and accountable process based on measurements that accurately reflect the work of the states. The Child and Families Services Review does not measure what they are designed to measure and therefore do not accurately reflect state performance. Additionally, the penalties associated with the CFSRs only compound state's limited resources to ensure permanency and safety for children, youth and families.
2009 Focal Point (PDF) released January 2009
CFSR Key Recommendations
By the end of Fiscal Year 2010, 42 states will have completed the on-site review component of the second round of the CFSRs. This past September, NAPCWA released additional recommendations on improving the child welfare monitoring process. Child welfare administrators specifically asked Congress to place a moratorium on the penalties associated with the review process. For more details, please click here.
What’s New in Child Welfare? Click here to find out.