"In September 2014, the third legislative review of the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA or the Act) was announced. ... These reviews are conducted by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) and are a way for the government to better understand how its laws, programs and policies are experienced on the ground. The information gathered as part of these reviews provides an opportunity for learning and change, and also supports the ministry and its partners to provide high-quality services for children, youth and families in Ontario. The paramount purpose of the Child and Family Services Act is to promote the best interests, protection and wellbeing of children and youth. The CFSA governs many of the province's programs and services for children and youth, ... The two sections of the CFSA that specifically apply to the review are: Section 224, which sets out the requirements for a mandatory review, and Section 226, which specifies that the mandatory review must include a review of provisions that impose obligations on children's aid societies (CASs) when providing services to a person who is an Indian or native person or in respect of children who are Indian or native persons, with a view to ensuring compliance by societies with those provisions." --Introduction.

Succeeding Together? is an institutional ethnography that analyses front-line accounts from mothers, teachers, and child welfare workers to explore the educational issues facing abused and neglected children outside of foster care.

This document presents testimony from a congressional hearing examining the Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption, and Family Services Act. In response to the General Accounting Office's (GAO's) concerns about the ability of the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) to perform its leadership role in identifying, preventing, and treating child abuse and neglect, this hearing was called to determine the progress made by NCCAN in the 9 months since the GAO concerns were raised and to make a recommendation on the length of the reauthorization for NCCAN. Testimonies focus on the NCCAN role; the role of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect; expansion of child abuse, adoption, and family services programs; and child abuse fatalities. Opening statements are included from Representatives Major R. Owens and Donald M. Payne. A statement from Lesley Wimberly, president, National Association of State Vocal Organizations is presented by Representative William F. Goodling. Witnesses providing testimonies include: (1) Wade Horn, commissioner, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services; (2) Joseph Delfico, director, Income Security Issues, GAO; (3) Howard Davidson, U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect; (4) Tom Birch, Legislative Counsel, National Child Abuse Coalition; (5) Michael Durfee, Child Abuse Prevention Unit, Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, California; (6) Mary Margaret Oliver, State Representative, Georgia State Legislature; and (7) Susan Wells, director, Child Maltreatment Fatalities Project, American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Prepared statements, letters, and supplemental materials are included. (NB)

Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. In recent years, Congress has annually appropriated between $7.6 billion and $8.7 billion in federal support dedicated to child welfare purposes. Nearly all of those dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). Federal involvement in state administration of child welfare activities is primarily tied to this financial assistance. The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis, and support research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy. At the federal level, child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children's Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). However, three competitive grant programs (authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act) are administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) within the Department of Justice (DOJ). Federal child welfare support is provided via multiple programs, the largest of which are included in the Social Security Act. Title IV-B of the Social Security Act primarily authorizes funding to states, territories, and tribes to support their provision of a broad range of child welfare-related services to children and their families. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act entitles states to federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and (in states electing to provide this kind of support) kinship guardianship assistance on behalf of each child who meets federal eligibility criteria. Title IV-E also authorizes funding to support services to youth who "age out" of foster care, or are expected to age out without placement in a permanent family. Legislation concerning programs authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E, which represents the very large majority of federal child welfare dollars, is handled in Congress by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee. Additional federal support for child welfare purposes, including research and demonstration funding, is authorized or otherwise supported in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Adoption Opportunities program. Further, the Victims of Child Abuse Act authorizes competitive grant funding to support Children's Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners. Authorizing legislation for these programs originated with the House and Senate Judiciary committees. Each child welfare program that receives discretionary funding is funded through April 28, 2017 at about 99.8% of the funding provided for each of the programs in FY2016. For child welfare programs receiving mandatory funding, the continuing resolution makes funding available at the rate needed to maintain the current law program, under the authority and conditions provided in the FY2016 appropriations act. While the continuing resolution allows federal funds to be awarded, until a final appropriations bill is enacted, the total amount of FY2017 funding that will be made available for a given program remains unknown and may be less (or more) than the annualized amount provided in the continuing resolution.

This book studies welfare systems in Europe and beyond from the standpoint of women in vulnerable positions in society. These systems are under major transformations with new models of service delivery and management, austerity measures, requirements for cost-effectiveness, marketization, and the prioritization of services. Divided into three parts: Welfare service systems (not) responding to vulnerable situations of women Women’s encounters with the welfare service system Contradictions of informal support this book considers the experiences and encounters with the service system of women in poverty, homeless women, women with substance use problems, women sentenced of crime, girls and young women in care, and refugees and asylum-seeking women. Drawing upon research and critical discussions from Finland, Canada, Israel, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, this book provides new empirical findings and critical insights, and a valuable resource for the academics and students in social work, social policy, sociology and gender studies, but also for policy makers and professionals in social and health care.