Tag: foster care
April 23 — Arizona1.27 provides resources for parenting through these times
Whether you are interested in learning more about foster care, adoption, advocacy, respite care, mentoring or serving foster families in tangible ways – we invite you to explore where your gifts and abilities may be helpful in strengthening families.
Join us to learn more and help Find Your Place
in serving kids and families in Northern Arizona!
Connections Spotlight — Variety of groups, including CCC&Y, sign on to oppose SB1399
Arizona is experiencing a shortage of licensed foster homes for children in foster care. Limiting who can become a foster parent by permitting taxpayer-funded foster care licensing agencies to discriminate is not in the best interest of Arizona children. “There are currently 3,255 homes, an 11% drop compared with this time last year and down 33% from the recent high-water mark of 4,875 homes in 2017.” Arizona does not have a shortage of nonprofit agencies, it has a shortage of families seeking to foster. A law that permits agencies to turn qualified and willing families away for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability to parent does not encourage or support efforts to recruit and license more families.
Children’s Action Alliance — CAA and FAAZ Seek Increased Supports for Youth Transitioning from Foster Care
Legislation to increase financial supports provided to transition-age foster youth has passed out of the Arizona State Senate and is being considered by the House of Representatives. SB 1325 (Shope) would increase the Independent Living Subsidy provided to youth ages 18 to 21 who are participating in extending foster care from $715 to $1,200 a month.
Extended foster care allows youth who would otherwise “age-out” of foster care at 18 to voluntarily remain in care until age 21. Studies show that youth who participate in extended foster care are more likely to complete high school, enroll in college, and be consistently employed, and they are less likely to need public food assistance, experience major economic hardship, become pregnant, or be involved in the criminal justice system.
CASA of Coconino County seeking volunteers
CASA of Coconino County is seeking volunteers.
As a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), you can help ensure children in foster care get to enjoy childhood.
Financial assistance for education, housing, transportation available for those who are, have been in foster care
If you are between the ages of 14 and 26 and are currently in foster care or have been in foster care between ages 14 and 21, you may be eligible for financial assistance to help with continuing your education, finding housing, getting transportation and more. In addition to DCS’s regular Extended Foster Care re-entry practices, there is an additional group of youth who are currently able to re-enter for a limited time.
Children’s Action Alliance — #ReleaseTheFunds: Make sure pandemic relief intended for foster youth gets to foster youth!
Young people who have aged out of foster care were at high risk for experiencing homelessness, unemployment, food instability, and other negative outcomes prior to the pandemic, and COVID-19 has heightened their vulnerability. Even as conditions begin to improve in Arizona, the recovery tail will be longer for these young people who do not have family to support them as they try to regroup, recoup, and reengage in school and work.
The Department of Child Safety has almost $10.5M for pandemic relief for older and former foster youth. But, to date, DCS has distributed just $500,000 to young people.Slowed down by a cumbersome, individualized, needs-based process, DCS has had trouble getting the money out the door. And for most young people, time is of the essence. Eligibility for the funds was expanded to include young people ages 21 through 26, but only until September 30th.
Roughly 113,000 Arizona kids would be eligible for universal preschool under President Biden’s ‘American Families Plan’. See more state education and legislative news here
Arizona preschool advocates say they are embracing President Joe Biden’s plan for “four more years of public education,”pointing to research that shows preschool is the path towards achievement.
Preschool programs like the one at Wood Elementary School in Tempe are solely funded by cities, like, in this case, the City of Tempe. A spokesperson for Tempe says so far, the City of Tempe has invested roughly $8.5 million into its early learning program.
Summer School Is a Hot Idea Right Now. Could It Work? See more national education news here
The idea makes sense, so much so that at least two governors, a national union leader and President Biden are behind it: extend this school year into the summer to help students make up for some of the learning they lost during a year of mostly remote school.
By summer, more teachers will be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Transmission rates might be significantly lower. And it will be easier in warm weather for students and educators to spend time in the open air, which is safer than being indoors.
How students give back to their communities for holidays. See more state education news here
Whether taking part in online learning, hybrid instruction or in-person classes, students found ways to give back, share kindness and care for those deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic hardships this holiday season.
Here are some of the ways students, teachers and their schools found to give back to their communities during the holidays.
Children’s Action Alliance — The Time is Now for Arizona to Reimagine an Equitable Child Welfare System that Supports Children within their Families and Communities
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and the current manifestations of the nation’s troubled history of systemic racism has sparked outcries to not just reform, but to reimagine the criminal justice, health care, and education systems. Those same calls are also being heard in the child welfare community. These efforts center around supporting children within their families and communities to prevent child maltreatment as well as the compounding trauma and negative outcomes that stem from family separation when a child enters foster care.
