N.Y. Governor Ponders Crackdown on Adoption Subsidies

When Adoptions Fall Apart, But the Money for Kids Keep Flowing

For decades, federal and state governments have shared the cost of subsidies for families that adopt children out of foster care. The goal is to bring added stability to the lives of kids who have often experienced deep trauma.

WHAT SUBSIDIES? 

Adoption subsidies are provided either through the Title IV-E program or the non-Title IV-E program. Children cannot qualify for both Title IV-E and non-Title IV-E benefits.

READ THIS:  https://adoptioncouncil.org/publications/a-guide-to-adoption-subsidies-and-assistance-for-adoptive-parents/

But when those adoptive families fall apart and children end up back in foster care or worse, out on the streets, those monthly payments can continue to be sent to parents who are no longer involved. 

A New York law that passed both houses of the Legislature would set a clear path to end subsidies following these “broken adoptions.”

“The money must follow the child,” said state Sen. Roxanne Persaud, the bill’s author.

Regarding those who accept payments for absent children, she added: “That’s just greed, in my opinion. If you gave up the child, then you shouldn’t be entitled to the money.”

Dawn Post, who has long advocated for youth in New York who experience broken adoptions, said the proposed law in New York would make it the first state in the nation to meaningfully monitor the continuation of adoption subsidies under these circumstances.

“I am ecstatic that this is the first bill in the country that’s really going to address this,” Post said. “This provides a real opportunity for youth to continue to be supported with the funds that were originally intended for them.”

👇 Child Welfare Autonomy for Canada’s First Nations

Years after an initial settlement was reached to atone for Canada’s horrific record of family separation among its First Nations, the country has committed more than $40 billion to fund child welfare reform in those Indigenous communities.

“This is a pivotal moment for reconciliation in Canada,” Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu stated in a press release. “This reform would put First Nations in the driver’s seat delivering child and family services to their communities, because they know better than anyone what they need. It would mean First Nations children can grow up in their families, with the services they need, and surrounded by love and their culture.”

👉Campaigning for Child Welfare Opinion: Child welfare leaders must make a concerted effort to educate national and state office-seekers about a vision for better supporting families and children, Paul DiLorenzo writes.

 

Cowichan Tribes to assume control of its child and family services in August

Cowichan Tribes will not practice child apprehension and placements “that have alienated children from their families and our community for generations,” says the chief of Vancouver Island’s most populous First Nation.

By Michael John Lo   Jun 25, 2024 

From left, Grace Lore, B.C. Minister of Children and Family Development, Patty Hajdu, Federal Minister of Indigenous Services of Canada and Cindy Daniels, Chief Cowichan Tribes sign an agreement on June 24, 2024. COURTESY MINISTRY OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

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As the Cowichan Tribes assumes control over its child and family services, it plans to leave behind the practice of child apprehension that its chief says has traumatized members of her nation for generations.

“Today, we are making history,” said Chief Cindy Daniels of the Cowichan Tribes, Vancouver Island’s most populous First Nation.

“We are putting in place our law.”

Representatives from Cowichan Tribes, B.C. and Canada officially signed a tripartite agreement on June 24 under a tent on the soccer fields next to the community’s Si’em Lelum Gymnasium.

The agreement allows for Cowichan Tribes to assume full management of all aspects of child and family services for its community, including prevention, protection measures and operations.

Daniels, whose traditional name is Sulsulxumaat, said her thoughts were with the generations of Cowichan children who experienced the trauma of being removed from their families and their community.

Cowichan Tribes will not practice child apprehension and placements “that have alienated children from their families and our community for generations,” she said.

Grace Lore, B.C.’s minister of children and family development, said state intervention in Indigenous families has a long history of causing harm, from residential schools to the Sixties Scoop.

Lore said the agreement means her ministry will no longer oversee Cowichan Tribes child and family services as of Aug. 1.

“By recognizing their inherent right to jurisdiction, we do not have oversight. The services are provided by the Nation for Nation members from ­prevention to protection, provided by Cowichan Tribes in accordance with Cowichan law,” she said. “They never gave up the responsibility and honour of caring for their kids and families.”

Federal Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu, representing Canada, said the agreement allows the Cowichan Tribes to take back control of their child and family services, “something that should have never been taken away in the first place.”

The Cowichan Tribes have been pushing for child and family services to be under its control since 2020, after the passage of the federal government’s Bill C-92 in 2019 allowed for Indigenous groups to assume full jurisdiction over child and family services.

Cowichan citizens voted last November to reclaim child services from B.C. and for Cowichan Tribes regulations concerning its child and family services to prevail over federal or provincial law in cases of disagreement.

Nation-provided service will initially cover Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Lore said her ministry will continue to be involved in cases that involve Cowichan members in other parts of the province not covered by the agreement.

The nation’s child protection services will be managed by a services authority named Stsi’elh stuhw’ew’t-hw tun Smun’eem, which is in the process of appointing a CEO, the province said.

Cowichan Tribes council will regulate, support and ensure that the authority functions properly but will otherwise be uninvolved in day-to-day operations and case decisions.

The Cowichan Tribes have delivered prevention and protection services through its child and family service, Lalum’utul’ Smun’eem, since 1993.

The agency currently operates under the authority of the provincial government.

Indigenous children are vastly over-represented in foster care in Canada, making up 53.8 per cent of children under 14 in care, despite the fact they are just 7.7 per cent of the population under 14, according to 2021 census data.

mjlo@timescolonist.com

source: https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/cowichan-tribes-to-assume-control-of-its-child-and-family-services-in-august-9131224