skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

Connecticut Setting Trend in Foster-Care Placement

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 4, 2019   

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut is making great progress in placing foster children in family settings and kinship care, according to a new report.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's report, Keeping Kids in Families, shows between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of Connecticut foster children placed in family settings rose from 73% to 87%, compared with a five-percentage-point increase in the nation as a whole.

According to Sheryl Horowitz, research and evaluation officer for the
Connecticut Association for Human Services
, this is due in part to a law that now requires any child placement outside the family to be individually reviewed and approved by the director of child welfare.

"They were able to slash the group-placement rate from 26% to 10% over this ten-year period," said Horowitz. "And for teens, which are the most difficult to place, they were able to slash it from 46% to 23%."

The federal Family First Prevention Services Act, which became law last year, instituted national reforms to help ensure that children are placed in the least restrictive, most family-like settings.

Rob Geen, director of policy and advocacy reform for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, says placing children with grandparents or other relatives they already know and trust produces the best outcomes.

"They're more likely to finish school, they're more likely to be employed or find employment later, they're less likely to become early parents," Geen explains. "That is one trend which is really important – we're using relatives more."

Nationally, although most children are still placed with foster families they aren't related to, placements with kin rose by seven percentage points, to 32% over the ten years.

Although the research shows Connecticut has made real progress, Horowitz notes there is more that can be done, such as doing more to engage families in the decision-making process.

"Kin and foster parents should be treated as important members of the team, and that kind of on-the-ground engagement is shown to be a very effective strategy," she adds.

Some states – including Alaska, Nevada and Washington – already are placing 90% or more of foster children in family settings.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021