Slide from Governor Dayton's Budget Presentation. Source: Minnesota Management & Budget On Tuesday, January 27, 2015, Governor Dayton released his 2016-2017 biennial budget. It has been the topic of several House and Senate committee hearings over the past week. The proposed $42 billion budget, which includes a $1 billion dollar budget surplus, prioritizes services for [...]
On Friday, January 23, 2015, a legislative briefing on children and youth issues was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul. Advocates, legislators, and Governor Mark Dayton presented their legislative agendas related to children and youth. Governor Mark Dayton's opening remarks included highlights from his Governor's Budget (issued this week), with $371 million [...]
January 20th SenateCommittee on Finance will meet at 9:00am in room 107 of the Capitol Building. Chair: Sen. Richard Cohen Child Welfare Agenda: Presentation of the November Forecast by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB). House of RepresentativesCommittee on Health and Human Services Reform will meet at 2:45pm in room 200 of the State Office Building. [...]
Tuesday, January 6th marked the beginning of the 2015 legislative session. Priorities for the upcoming session include the $1 billion dollar surplus, transportation, education, long-term care and child protection. Among the many proposed House and Senate files, three bills stand out in particular as they directly impact Minnesota's child protection system. These bills were developed [...]
This post is written by the Stability, Permanency, and Adoption MSW Intern, Andrea Brubaker, with additional content from editor Heidi Ombisa Skallet. Yesterday I provided some background information on adoption assistance and the Adoption and Safe Families Act. As a follow up, I will now lay out two bills about adoption incentives—The Promoting Adoption and [...]
This post is written by the Stability, Permanency, and Adoption MSW Intern, Andrea Brubaker. This past September, Senator Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced the Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act. The bill would certify the continued funding for the Adoption Incentives program, prioritize increasing adoption rates, and create a legal guardianship [...]
This post is written by the Stability, Permanency, and Adoption MSW Intern, Andrea Brubaker. Scientific evidence shows the detrimental impact of institutionalized care on brain development in children. While many governments in other countries want to place children in permanent homes they often don't have the resources to do so. As a result, many children [...]
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation report on reducing juvenile incarceration, well over 60,000 young people are confined to correctional facilities or other residential programs for juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is broadly defined and encompasses a range of offenses from serious and violent to petty and minor. Conditions within such facilities and even within [...]
