APHSA Annual Report 2018

Child and Family Well-Being

practitioners on services available for agencies serving children involved in child welfare with parents in the detention and removal processes, including a review of policy guiding parental engagement in child welfare proceedings, access and visitation and methods to facilitate repatriation. Following the passage of the historical increase to the Child Care Development Fund, Senate Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee staff joined APHSA’s affinity group, the National Association of State Child Care Administrators (NASCCA) to provide an overview of the bi-partisan agreement. Staffers offered insight into the Congressional intent behind the increased appropriations, which is to improve child care quality and access for all working families. NASCCA leaders presented ideas for leveraging the increase to promote quality and access for child care programming in their states. NASCCA continues to partner closely with the Office of Child Care to ensure full implementation of the 2014 Child Care Development Block Grant reauthorization. NASCCA has facilitated a national response to the notice of rulemaking related to new administrative requirements for the state annual planning process, as well as maintaining an ongoing dialog with the Office of Child Care to support states in implementing challenging aspects such as interstate criminal background checks and health and safety requirements. under its Future of Work portfolio, provided a two-year grant to APHSA to survey state child care directors and update the Fragile Families Research (FFR) database to study the impact of non-standard work hours and how states are addressing child care needs for workers. APHSA is partnering on this project PARTNERING FOR IMPACT The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,

INFLUENCE APHSA continues to provide support to members in influencing national policy and strengthening state and local strategy in developing programs focused on child well-being outcomes and whole-family approaches, including child welfare and child care. APHSA and leading members guiding child welfare and legal counsel continue to provide critical policy, and practice supports for the public child welfare system, especially following the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act. Representatives from APHSA’s affinity group, the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators (NAPCWA), as well as the APHSA Leadership Council, held several conference calls and in-person briefings with Assistant Commissioner, Jerry Milner regarding the Children’s Bureau’s implementation plan. As states work to implement the new law, NAPCWA’s Family First Prevention Services workgroup continues to collect policy question and recommendations, which APHSA shares with the Children’s Bureau on our members’ behalf. NAPCWA members also provided comments on proposed changes to the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System, including advocating for the Children’s Bureau to facilitate the collection of data to ensure compliance with the Indian Children’s Welfare Act. NAPCWA also led responses to the Children’s Bureau request for comment providing feedback on the Evidence-Based Clearinghouse to ensure that the needs of the unique communities among APHSA members are considered and reflected in the final product. Representatives from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presented a webinar for child welfare and legal

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