SOWK 6315 Minimum Wage to Rise And Foster Care and Adoption Legislation Research Papers Legislative Resource Collection Purpose The purpose of this assig

SOWK 6315 Minimum Wage to Rise And Foster Care and Adoption Legislation Research Papers Legislative Resource Collection

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to create a legislative media resource collection in which each student’s contribution adds to the growth and quality.

Instructions

For this assignment, you are required to add any type of legislative resource, information, or news that you deem pertinent based on class content and material. The information posted can include:

-information about city, state, national or international legislative/policy news;

-information about resources related to legislative/policy research.

There is no limit on how many resources or news media you can contribute, however, you are required to add at least one resource

Note: This assignment will be graded on the quality of the information posted. The posting is expected to be free of grammatical and spelling errors. Culturally appropriate language must be used at each step. You are expected to briefly comment of the postings of your peers.

You must also respond to two of your peers.

Peer 1 Posting:

FEBRUARY 23, 2020

Foster Care and Adoption Legislation 2020

Together We Rise is always searching for new ways to help lift the voices of foster youth. As we approach election season there are several bills up for vote to help improve foster care and adoption legislation. While we can’t always help kids in care every day. Voting for changes in the foster system is a great way to positively impact the foster community.

Below lists all pending foster care and adoption legislation by state. (Please note, if we have missed any current bills, contact us so we can add them.)

California

There is currently one assembly bill up for vote in California, AB 1061. The bill provides more stability for foster youth by requiring a 14-day advance notice for placement changes. It includes an extension of the age limit for foster care support from 21 to 25.

Georgia

Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp is rolling out three pieces of foster care and adoption legislation. HB 912 allows foster parents to leave children with a babysitter for up to three days with the approval of the state Division of Family and Child Services.

HB 913 lowers the age requirement for potential adoptive parents from 25 to 21. The final bill, HB 911 makes it illegal for foster parents to have sexual relations with the youth they foster even if they are of consenting age.

Kentucky

Bill 312 is wide-ranging legislation that specifically requires caseworkers to go with the child and the foster parent to the new school or call the school to provide information so the child is not initially denied academic programs or special help.

Michigan

Michigan is working on several pieces of foster and adoption legislation, including, Senator John Bizon, R- Battle Creek’s Senate Bill 466. SB 466 amends the Child Care Licensing Act to modify the definition of “foster family home” and “foster family group home,” and to define “qualified residential treatment program” (QRTP) and “child-caring institution staff member” in order to match federal definitions.

Senator Marshall Bullock, D – Detroit, sponsored SB 467. Senate Bill 467 amends the Child Care Licensing Act to modify the reasons for which the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) could grant an exception to one or more licensing rules or statutes regulating foster family homes or foster family group homes. This includes, upon recommendation, that DHHS may allow children to remain with families with established relationships. Also, allowing families with specialized training to care for children with severe disabilities.

The second bill sponsored by Senator John Bizon, R- Battle Creek, is Senate Bill 468. SB 468 amends the Child Care Licensing Act to require qualified individuals, agencies in charge of the placement of children in the foster care system, the courts. Proving DHHS with new oversight of the care plans for children placed into QRTPs (Qualified Residential Treatment Program).

New Mexico

New Mexico is part of the movement extending benefits to foster youth. Bill 168, which proposes giving aid to foster youth ages 18-21. The funds will come from the Child, Youth and Family Services Department.

Oregon

Oregon is working to help reform foster care. Bill 1566 Directs Department of Human Services to adopt rules identifying up to two family-based group homes to provide services to certain children. Directs department to report to interim committees of Legislative Assembly related to child welfare regarding the success of placements in family-based group homes.

The bill also prohibits the placement of Oregon children in out-of-state child-caring agencies. Unless a child-caring agency is licensed by the Department of Human Services. Establishes certain contract requirements and department duties regarding the placements of children in out-of-state child-caring agencies. Prohibits the colocation of children and youth committed to the custody of the Oregon Youth Authority without a court order. Would also enforce stricter rules of out of state placement.

West Virginia

House bill 4092 guarantees safe living conditions, child care training for foster parents, and information about the child’s behavioral history prior to placement. Also an increased stipend (minimum $900). (Not yet passed 2/20/20)

In Conclusion

In conclusion, with seven states working on foster care and adoption legislation, there is a lot of room for change. To help make these changes happen, voting is the minimum move.

Also, consider writing your senators and asking them to make improvements to the foster system. Each state has different needs and it is up to each person to advocate for positive changes. To help kids in foster care on the regular, host a service project with us.

Peer 2 Posting:

Teachers are so worried about returning to school that they’re preparing wills

By Theresa Waldrop, CNN

Updated 11:17 PM ET, Thu July 16, 2020

Back-to-school is looking a little different for many teachers nationwide this year, as they grapple with returning to their classrooms amid a pandemic.

“How horrible is it that one of the things on the list to do is to have a plan for students and teachers dying?” Denise Bradford, a teacher in Orange County, California’s Saddleback Valley Unified School District, told CNN.

Her comment comes after the Orange County Board of Education voted this week to return children to schools without face masks or social distancing, despite a surge in coronavirus cases and more than 7,000 Covid-19 deaths in the state.

Bradford is not alone: Many teachers CNN spoke with, some who requested they not be named due to fears of repercussions from their school districts, said they are preparing for the worst this fall. (CNN has agreed to use pseudonyms for some of the teachers to protect their identities).

Teachers worry about how we’ll keep them safe if their schools reopen

Decisions about whether schools will reopen, and in what capacity, have mostly been left to school districts, with some guidance from state officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Donald Trump, while pushing for schools to open, has complained the guidelines are “very tough and expensive.” Education Secretary Besty DeVos has refused to say whether districts should follow them, and in a recent CNN interview, made it clear the administration has no plan for a safe reopening, leaving it up to states or districts.

All of the interviewed teachers shared a similar sentiment: They miss their students and in person teaching, but they worry about their health should they return to classrooms amid the pandemic.

“We miss our kids terribly,” Bradford told CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “We lay awake at night wondering if they’re okay.”

Preparing their wills

Louise, a special education teacher in another state where Covid-19 is surging, told CNN she is preparing a will and a living will. She is also looking into supplementary life insurance as she gets ready to go back into the classroom next month.

“It’s probably time that I have something in place,” Louise said of her will, “and there’s nothing like a pandemic to make you do all that.”

Louise said other teachers in her area also know little about what protocols are planned when schools open in their district. What they’ve heard won’t be done has some worried enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Give teachers ‘medical grade PPE’ to get schools reopened and students back in class, pediatrician urges

Eleeza, a high school teacher in the same district, told CNN she is updating her will, and putting a trust in place for her disabled, high-risk 19-year-old son.

She’s also struggling with a living will for her son, for whom she has legal guardianship, along with her husband and another person outside the household.

“What does a DNR (do not resuscitate order) look like with three guardians?” Eleeza asked. “We all have to agree on it.”

Amy Forehand, a first-grade teacher who was comfortable going on the record with her full name but not her school’s name or location, said figuring out how much supplemental life insurance to sign up for is a priority for this weekend.

“How are we in the middle of a pandemic, and I’m going into this germ factory, and we don’t have a will?” she said, speaking of herself and her husband.

A benefit of the supplemental life insurance is access to legal help in preparing a will, at no extra cost, she said.

‘Extreme anxiety about death’

The teachers CNN spoke with described themselves as planners, but said they need to know what to plan for.

“I have extreme anxiety about death,” Forehand said, breaking down in tears. “I like to be in control. That scares me, because i”m not in control.”

Some teachers feel more vulnerable to the coronavirus because they are older or have health conditions.

One in four teachers at greater risk from coronavirus

Although her age doesn’t put her in a high-risk group, Forehand said she has moderate to severe asthma.

“I’m not a risk taker,” she said. “It’s not something I want to gamble with.”

Eleeza, who has medical conditions that put her at risk for severe illness or death if she contracts the virus, said she hasn’t been into any building but her home since March 13.

Next month, she’ll be at a school that normally has 2,000 students and hundreds of staff members in a building she says is poorly ventilated. Her classrooms typically have 35-38 students at any time, she said, and she’s expected to clean each computer — every student uses one — between classes.

“In order to do that, I have to expose myself to areas of high touch,” she said.

Louise echoed these concerns. With coronavirus, “there are so many unknowns,” she said, “and I’m a planner.”

“So my anxiety is very high, because I’m afraid I’m going to bring it home to my family. Even though I’m wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, I just feel like we’re kind of being thrown into it.”

Teachers have been posting comments in groups across social media about preparing their wills and enrolling in supplemental life insurance as local Covid-19 cases keep rising, Louise said.

“I was just like, this is like real,” she said. “Maybe this is something I should do.”

Louise has started filling out online forms for a will, and a neighbor, who’s an attorney, has volunteered to look it over before she submits it. But she may end up going with a lawyer to do the whole process, just to be sure. She’s also urging her partner to get a will.

“God forbid I bring it home,” she said.

Thoughts of quitting

In addition to anxiety over potentially contracting the virus, many of the teachers expressed sadness and anger about the situation as a whole.

“I would never have thought, when I became a teacher,” Louise said, “I would need to get a will in place in order to go back to work.”

3 Arizona teachers caught coronavirus but only 2 survived. This is what they want you to know

Those interviewed said they would prefer digital learning, as school districts near them have chosen for reopening.

“How bad does it have to get before we decide to completely go to virtual learning?” Louise asked.

Some have thought about quitting, but worry about the financial repercussions of taking a break.

Eleeza said she can’t afford to quit her job, that “every choice I make affects” the future of her son.

“We have to fund his trust for the rest of his life,” she said.

Forehand said she’s thought about taking a break from teaching — she can do it for a year, unpaid, and keep her job. Her mother asks her to quit, almost daily, she said.

“She’s literally begged me,” she said.

Still, she said it’s a job she loves, and she feels she needs to be there out of solidarity with her coworkers.

But, Forehand said, there are those moments where “you’re looking at coworkers and thinking: Some of us may not live.”

CNN’s Dakin Andone contributed to this report.