Child Welfare

  • Child Poverty

    2021 CDF-MN Advocacy Agenda

    As COVID has upended our communities and families, Minnesota state and local leaders have responded with urgency and creativity. We at CDF-MN are ready to work with policymakers to continue the extraordinary leadership and vital investments in families necessary to meet this moment.

  • Child Welfare

    New Policy Report from Young People with Experience in the Foster Care System

    The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program® brings a cohort of young adults who have experienced the foster care system to intern in congressional offices on Capitol Hill and publish policy recommendations to best support young people impacted by the foster care system. After serving on a specialized COVID-19 Foster Youth Intern Pandemic Working Group, the 2021 Foster Youth Interns went on to intern for congressional offices this summer and have authored "Building the Path Forward for Change in the Child Welfare System" based on their experiences and expertise.

    | National

  • Child Welfare

    The Biden Administration Must Advance Policies to Support LGBTQ+ Children and Adults in the Child Welfare System

    As many as one in three children in foster care identify as LGBTQ+, and same-sex couples are seven times more likely to foster or adopt than their opposite-sex counterparts. Still, LGBTQ+ children and families, particularly LGBTQ+ children and families of color, disproportionately experience negative treatment in the child welfare system. CDF was proud submit comments detailing actions the administration could take to improve services for LGBTQ+ children and families in the child welfare system.

    | National

  • Child Welfare

    | Ohio

  • Child Welfare

    Supreme Court Rules on Foster Care Non-Discrimination Case

    While this decision did not undermine the right of state and local governments to protect children and families from taxpayer-funded discrimination, it does underscore how tenuous these protections can be. The decision is a potent reminder of how crucial it is that we pass the John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act (S.1848/ H.R. 3488) to ensure that all children and youth in the child welfare system are safe from discrimination, no matter where they live or who they love.

    | National

  • Child Welfare

    CDF Endorses the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2021

    Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) have introduced the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2021 (S. 1927), which would reauthorize and amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. The Children’s Defense Fund was proud to endorse this legislation because of its significant increase in funding for prevention, its emphasis on race equity in child welfare, its overdue focus on child abuse and neglect fatalities, and the fact that the law would guarantee right to counsel for children and parents in all cases involving child abuse and neglect allegations.

    | National