LSA CYF Members,
If you have any questions, would like to be added to the CYF Update mailing list, or have recommendations for future webinars, please contact Paula Young at pyoung@lutheranservices.org.
To view all previous issues of our CYF Update newsletters, prior webinars on a wide variety of EBPs and other topics, Family First Act resources, and more, please visit our CYF members-only resource page. Contact pyoung@lutheranservices.org for the login and password.
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Strength and Service Series: By the (Hand)book - Staying Compliant in a Changing Environment
Date: August 17, 2021
2:00 PM ET
In 2020, many organizations had to quickly adapt to working remotely, and keep up with rapidly changing new health and safety requirements. There are over 50 new laws that took effect July 1 alone that impact 20 different states. How do you know if your handbook is compliant for federal, state and local laws? Join us for this Strength & Service Series webinar on August 17th at 2pm ET for best practices on updating your handbook, guidance for returning to the office, and how you can stay up to date with legislative changes. More details here.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rental Assistance Finder
Lutheran Services in America's partners at the White House Partnerships Office shared the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “Rental Assistance Finder” tool that members of your community can use to learn about emergency rental assistance available to tenants and landlords. The tool is now live and you can use the hashtag #RentHelp on social media. Find the tool here.
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Advocacy and Legislative Updates
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Wyden, Jayapal Reintroduce Legislation to Provide Alternatives to Incarceration for Parents and Caregivers to Keep Families Together, Children Out of Foster Care
The Finding Alternatives to Mass Incarceration: Lives Improved by Ending Separation Act (FAMILIES Act) would allow federal judges to divert parents and caregivers from incarceration into a comprehensive program that would better serve them, their families and society by offering resources, services and training to meet their unique needs. The legislation is modeled after successful programs in Oregon and Washington state that have kept hundreds of families together and been key to reducing recidivism. Read more here.
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Groups urge Congress to make CHIP permanent
The ADA and more than 500 organizations representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are urging Congress to support legislation to make the Children's Health Insurance Program permanent. In a July 22 letter sent to leaders in the House and Senate, the groups, led by the First Focus Campaign for Children, asked the lawmakers to support the Comprehensive Access to Robust Insurance Now Guaranteed for Kids Act and the Children's Health Insurance Program Permanency Act. Read more here.
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Foster Youth Congressional Interns Present Policy Fixes to US Legislators
Eleven former foster youth gathered virtually last week to share with members of the U.S. Congress their ideas for improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of children who grow up in foster care and adoptive homes - an annual event producing cutting-edge policy ideas from those with lived experience. Among the presenters working with the Washington, D.C.-based Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute was Laila-Rose Hudson, who interned this summer for Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D). "Through our firsthand accounts, you will hear 11 carefully researched opportunities for change," she said, "11 ways to cure some of the inequities that we have witnessed and experienced personally." Read more here.
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Virtual Meetings and Resources
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FRCs Advancing Equity Every Day
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
2:30 PM EDT
Register here.
On Wednesday, August 18 from 2:30-3:45 PM ET, the National Family Support Network will host FRCs: Advancing Equity Every Day, which will discuss how Family Resource Centers address systemic inequities that impact the lives of the families and communities they serve. This webinar will provide a framework of how FRCs advance equity through how they are developed, structured, work with families, and address systematic barriers. It will feature examples of FRCs in Washington, DC, and San Francisco, California striving to end inequalities in their communities.
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Centering Lived Experience: Methodology of Away from Home
Thursday, September 9, 2021
3:30 PM EDT
Register here.
On Thursday, September 9, at 3:30 PM ET, Think of Us will host Centering Lived Experience: Methodology of Away From Home. Participants will learn how the Think of Us team centered lived experience in the methodology of the project from the formation of the research team and the recruitment of participants to the creation of a lived expert peer review board and the design of the project launch.
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Clearinghouse Rating Comparison Chart
Children’s Defense Fund has created a new resource comparing the ratings provided by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse with the ratings of the California Evidence-based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. The resource details ratings from each clearinghouse and links to relevant pages for each rating. CDF will update the resource as new ratings are released. Find the chart here.
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The Imprint Weekly Podcast: What happened to you? Talking Child and Family Trauma with Bruce Perry
This week, The Imprint Weekly Podcast presents our in-depth interview with Dr. Bruce Perry, recent co-author of the bestseller “What Happened to You” with Oprah Winfrey. Perry, who heads the Neurosequential Network and is the founder of and senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy, has spent years building the knowledge base around understanding and addressing the impact of child trauma on kids and adults.
Perry discussed his new book, his views on child welfare and its approach to engaging parents, the potential of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, and more. Listen to the podcast here.
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Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Education, and Behavioral Health News
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In Quest to Meet Needs of Foster Youth, More States Create Independent Ombuds Offices
To get their basic needs met, foster youth and their advocates across the country are pushing for the creation of offices with the sole purpose of listening to and addressing their needs - from securing visitation with their birth parents and siblings to figuring out how to pay for college. Read more here.
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University of Chicago Examines Connection Between Poverty and Child Welfare
Families living in poverty are more likely to be involved with the child welfare system, and in more than 60% of cases nationwide, authorities find children being neglected, not abused. That's according to a recent brief from the University of Chicago that argues direct financial support for families would result in fewer children being maltreated. This story is part of WTTW's Firsthand initiative exploring poverty in Chicago. Read more here.
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Pandemic Posed Challenges, but also Created Opportunities for Agencies to Enhance Future Operations
This work was conducted as part of GAO's COVID-19 monitoring and oversight responsibilities under the CARES Act. It examines (1) challenges child welfare agencies reported as a result of the pandemic; (2) actions these agencies reported taking to respond to challenges, including using the additional funds and other supports provided by HHS; and (3) practices agencies reported they may continue based on what they learned during the pandemic. Read more here.
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Nearly Half of Children Experience CPS Investigations for Abuse and Neglect Before 18, New Estimates for Large Counties Show
Following an international uprising over the breadth and depth of institutional racism and systemic injustice, a new peer-reviewed study released in a prominent scientific journal this month estimated child protection investigations to be far more common than previously thought -- especially for children of color. In some American counties, more than 60% of Black children's homes could be scrutinized by abuse and neglect investigators. In others, more than one in ten Indigenous children could be removed from their parent's home and taken into foster care, the new findings show. Read more here.
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Federal Grant Opportunities
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Partnership Programs to Reduce Maternal Deaths Due to Violence
HHS Office of Women’s Health is soliciting applications for state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) partnership projects designed to identify and reduce deaths among pregnant and postpartum women due to violence. Faith and community-based organizations are eligible to apply. Find more information here.
Closing date: August 12, 2021.
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Wellness for All, a Power of She Fund, Grant
Grants to support entrepreneurs and organizations committed to making wellness and fitness more accessible and inclusive to communities of female Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Find more information here.
Closing Date: August 13, 2021
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Disability Inclusion Fund
The Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy is now accepting applications from organizations working to strengthen disability inclusion, rights, and justice through August 13, 2021. All eligible organizations are encouraged to apply. Please contact the organization if you have any questions that aren’t answered in the materials, and join an informational webinar on July 15th for more information. Apply here.
Closing date: August 13, 2021
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Promoting Vaccine Confidence in Local Communities through Partnership with Regional Health Offices
Funding for local public health agencies, and other eligible organizations, to establish partnerships with community stakeholders to increase vaccine confidence among populations with low vaccination rates, including rural communities. State and local governments, faith-based and AI/AN/NA organizations are eligible to apply. Learn more here.
Closing date: August 17, 2021
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Promoting Resilience and Mental Health Among Health Professional Workplace
For healthcare organizations to establish, enhance, or expand evidence-based or evidence-informed programs or protocols to promote resilience, mental health, and wellness among their health professional workforce, including in rural and medically underserved communities. Find more information here.
Closing date: August 30, 2021
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HUD's Eviction Protection Grant Program
Funding for non-profit or governmental entities to provide no-cost legal assistance to low-income tenants at risk of or subject to eviction in areas with high rates of evictions or prospective evictions, including rural areas. Find more information here.
Closing date: September 8, 2021
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Engaging and Empowering Vulnerable Families and Communities to Prevent Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose
The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts is offering grants for projects to develop, adapt, and/or evaluate promising evidence-based models of family and community based prevention for opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose for children and families, especially those at highest risk. Informational webinar: Aug. 11, 2021, 2:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. Find more information here.
Closing date: September 21, 2021
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