Greetings NACC members,

On behalf of the entire NACC staff and Board of Directors, I extend our warmest wishes to you, your family and loved ones this holiday season. This year is truly a time for reflection and I want to take a moment to share with you how much we value our partnership with each and every member of our NACC community.

Your NACC membership and support are not only central to our organization, but are also critical to the children, youth and families touched by the child welfare system across the country. It is the advocacy, skill, passion and tireless efforts of our members that truly make a difference to the lives of countless children and families every single day. Thank you for your contributions, dedication, expertise and support that help us continue to serve as a valuable resource for you in these efforts. NACC is committed to supporting you in achieving high standards of excellence in your daily work, and we are here to assist you all year long through customized trainings, amicus curiae assistance, a myriad of resources, specialized certification, and legal and policy updates. Please know that you can reach out to us any time of the year. We always love hearing from you.

Happy Holidays!

H.D. Kirkpatrick, PhD, ABPP
President, NACC Board of Directors

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.

JJIE
A recent study on the impact of employment-focused reentry services to youth and adults found that in the most successful programs, it was the staff and relationships they built with participants that made all of the difference.

CWLA
Last week the Senate held a session focusing on older/transitioning foster youth and college education. Speakers covered topics from barriers youth face in the transition from foster care to college, to recommendations for navigating the transition, and further into how data can play a positive role in understanding challenges and finding better solutions.

The Chronicle of Social Change
In February, Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation and the Hack Foster Care coalition will host a hackathon at Microsoft headquarters in Silicon Valley. The hackathon will focus on providing laptops and Internet access to foster youth, reforming foster care system and technology infrastructure, and preparing foster youth for college and careers.

The Atlantic
According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 1.36 million students in the U.S. were homeless in 2014. Homeless students face a number of challenges not faced by other students, including the bureaucratic procedures required to stay in many homeless shelters and the long travel times often necessary to get to school.

ACLU
In our inflated U.S. prison system, parole is supposed to provide an incentive and a path to earn release from prison. Instead, in many states, the parole system is defective and reflexively denies release even to model prisoners who went to prison as teenagers, have already served decades in prison, and no longer pose a safety risk.

Child Trends
In 2010, more than one in five children (22 percent) lived in families with incomes below the poverty line, the highest level since 1993; by 2014, this had fallen to 21 percent. Black and Hispanic children, children living in single-mother families, and children under five are even more likely to be poor.

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.