It’s the holiday season, so give yourself a gift – make a donation to NACC before 12/30 and get a chance to win an amazing prize.  Half the net donation proceeds will go to the winner on a Visa gift card!

Your generous support will help ensure that the NACC continues to be a resource in the child welfare community. Our training, programs, and technical assistance would not be possible without the contributions of advocates and allies – just like you. Every contribution is needed and will immediately be put to good use.

Visit here for details, to donate, and your chance to win.

 

The December edition of The Guardian  is online now.  This monthly publication is a membership benefit and includes child welfare and juvenile justice articles, case reviews, policy updates and more.  Members log in to read.

 

The Huffington Post
As 2016 and the current presidency come to an end, Congress has rushed to push through the 21st Century Cures Act. The Cures Act initially included the Family First Prevention Services Act, sweeping reform aimed at fixing the broken foster care system. However, after unanimously passing in the House, the Family First Prevention Services Act was stripped from the 21st Century Cures Act at the request of Senator Richard Burr (R-NC).

The Hechinger Report
Federal data released on Friday highlights the disparities between access to education for youth in corrections compared to their peers. The Department of Education drew attention to these differences and released two new guides and resources aimed at helping these youth return to traditional schools.

JJIE
Ask any seasoned academic, entrepreneur or parent and they will tell you mistakes were invaluable to their personal development and ultimate success. Yet, despite our society’s theoretical value of resilience, when it comes to justice-involved youth, we undervalue the growth and insight that result from overcoming adversity.

The Huffington Post
Hundreds of women and children were released from two family detention centers over the weekend, after a Texas state judge sided with critics who say the facilities more closely resemble jails than child care centers.

Northern California Record
"The Indian Child Welfare Act makes it harder to protect children with Native American ancestry from abuse or neglect, forces state child welfare workers to return Indian children to the families that have abused them, and makes it harder for Native American kids in foster care to find the permanent adoptive homes they need," said Goldwater Institute vice president for litigation Timothy Sandefur.

The New York Times
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, for the so-called Dreamers, is both lawful and rational.

Don M. Hodgdon, JD, CWLS    

Don retired from active military service from the United States Navy as a commissioned officer in 2001 having served in the aviation community and nuclear submarine service.  He established his law practice in southeastern Connecticut in 2006.  For the past decade he has represented over eight hundred children and parents as a panel attorney for the Office of the Chief Public Defender.  In 2012, Don represented an out-of-state, non-custodial Father before the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme Courts regarding the applicability of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), In Re. Emoni W. et. al., 305 Conn. 723 (2012).  The Supreme Court held that the ICPC did not apply to out-of-state parents, sustained father’s appeal, and remanded the case to the trial court with the direction to reverse the judgment. Read more about Don here.

Under the NACC’s by-laws, members of the Board of Directors are elected and re-elected by the membership. In this election cycle, there are two Board members up for re-election:

• H.D. ("De") Kirkpatrick, Ph.D
• Stephanie Ledesma, MA, JD, CWLS

Ballots close December 31, 2016. Members may log in and
vote online here. While login is required to verify only members are voting, your ballot is still anonymously cast.

Thank you to our our newest Silver Member, Susan Mulligan.  Susan has been a Bronze NACC member since 2011.  We appreciate her support!