November is National Adoption Month and In Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 children in foster care are waiting for new families through adoption.
Abigail Wilson, director of child welfare, juvenile justice and education services at the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services, said nationwide, more than 108,000 children are in foster care awaiting adoption.
Wilson suggested now is a great time to learn more about the joys and the challenges of adoptive families, adding the data provide insights into the racial composition of the children who need permanent families.
"Median age was around seven years old, and the racial breakdown was 43% white children, 23% Hispanic, 21% Black, 9% two or more races," Wilson reported. "High majority of the white, Hispanic and Black children."
Wilson noted Pennsylvania uses the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network, which is part of the Department of Human Services. It focuses on matching children to families and resources.
Rachel Kuhr, chief program officer for Jewish Family Service of Harrisburg, said in the last 20 years, Pennsylvania has significantly increased its services for families seeking permanency for children. She pointed out funding has allowed the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network to provide resources to adoptive families.
"It allows any family who has adopted a child and lives in Pennsylvania, and the child is under 18, to access supportive services," Kuhr outlined. "The state funds three services: case advocacy, which begins with assessment and then respite funding and support group."
She emphasized support groups are the top request from adoptive families and families are informed about the services before finalizing adoptions so they can seek help when needed.
Kim Kupfer, post-permanency coordinator for Jewish Family Service, said they have seen an increase in mental health issues affecting kids and families since the pandemic. She described how post-permanency services have helped a family of three, including two biological brothers with HADDS, a condition linked to developmental delay and autism.
"We offered a support group virtually about mental health topics," Kupfer recounted. "She did do that one, because it was virtual. It's a single Mennonite mom. Her name is Samantha. She's needed so much help with both the boys, navigating three systems. One of them is the school system, because she did not want to send her oldest to public school."
She stressed the mother was able to see the benefits of the local public school for her son with special needs, and he has been thriving there for almost three years.
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New child labor laws went into effect in Virginia at the start of the year, but some advocates say more can be done.
House Bill 100 took effect in January, raising the maximum financial penalty to $25,000 -- up from $10,000 -- if a child dies or is seriously injured while working in violation of labor law. Cases that do not involve injury or death will have stiffer penalties, too, with maximum fines set at $2,500.
Nina Mast, a policy and economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, said it is just the start of combatting illegal child labor in the Commonwealth.
"This was a really important first step in the overall goal of strengthening child labor standards in Virginia," she said, "but the penalty amounts are really only as effective as the enforcement can be in the state."
Mast added that the legislation also created a group made up of youth-serving organizations and young people to explore the creation of workers' rights education for high school students.
Going forward, Mast said new laws must keep young people from working in dangerous or hazardous work environments, including staffing agencies that are often used to fill meatpacking and construction jobs. That keeps the main company from being held liable.
Mast said state labor agencies need more employees to hold companies accountable.
"Employers know this. They know that they will largely get away with violating the law and no one will ever enforce those violations," she said. "Adding capacity is really important to signaling to employers that the law will actually be enforced when violations are found."
Before the law went into effect, there was no minimum financial penalty for business owners who broke child labor laws.
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New legislation in Olympia aims to ease the burden of child-care costs for Washington families by allowing businesses to help their employees pay for it.
Under House Bill 1564, businesses could reduce the amount they spend on business and occupation taxes by the amount they pay for child-care assistance to workers.
State Rep. Joshua Penner, R-Orting, who authored the bill, said prices for child care in the state can exceed the cost of college tuition.
"That's just a really tough position that we put our workers in," he said, "that they have to decide whether or not to be underemployed or forgo opportunities in order to get good child care."
Nearly 40% of Washington parents have reported quitting a job or being fired because of child-care challenges, costing families almost $7 billion annually in lost income. The bill was just introduced and is in the House Finance Committee.
Penner added that if a business didn't use the full tax benefit in one year, the bill would allow it to apply the remaining amount to the following year. He said he isn't worried about the potential loss of tax revenue for Washington state.
"I think nothing is more efficient than those 'B&O' taxes being directly applied to child care for the workers within that business," he said.
Washington ranks seventh, just behind Oregon, for the least affordable infant care in the country, with an average year of full-time care topping $20,000. Penner said many factors, including low pay for providers and the high cost of running a child-care business, have driven up price tags for families. He said the bill has bipartisan support.
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A majority of California children are failing to meet educational standards, according to this year's County Scorecard on Children's Well-Being.
Researchers from the nonprofit Children Now have published the scorecard every other year since 2008, so policymakers from all 58 counties can track progress over time.
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research for Children Now, said academic scores have begun to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, which are still much too low.
"Only 43% of third graders met standards in reading, only 33% of fifth graders met standards in science, and only 32% of eighth graders met standards in math," Hardy reported.
The percentages are even worse for Black and Latino students. For example, among eighth graders, only 20% of Latinos and 14% of Black students meet standards in math. Kids in Marin, Orange and San Francisco counties fared better, while children in the rural north counties face greater challenges in education and health.
Youth in foster care are falling behind even further, with 21% meeting standards in English, 11% in science and 7% in math. Hardy hopes lawmakers keep the issues in mind when crafting the next state budget.
"It really makes no sense for a relatively high-tax state like California to be so far behind other states in outcomes for education," Hardy contended. "We need the state to provide more funding."
The report does reveal some bright spots. More than 97% of kids in California now have health insurance, and more low-income families with kids are accessing CalFresh food support.
Disclosure: Children Now/Kids Count contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, and Youth Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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