Newsroom

For Immediate Release
January 13, 2020

Contact: Maya Polon, 916.444.7614

CWDA Joins Governor Newsom’s Council in Call for

Urgency, Prevention on Homelessness Emergency

Today, the Trump Administration dealt another blow to Americans struggling in poverty by publishing a rule to take away Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance, known as CalFresh in California, from those they consider “able-bodied adults without dependents” that are either unemployed or underemployed. CWDA strongly opposes this cruel and counterproductive rule, which won’t accomplish what it allegedly seeks, which is to motivate people to be gainfully employed.

A new rule to restrict legal immigration, published by the Trump administration this month, is sowing confusion and anxiety even among immigrants not directly affected by it, as fear spreads faster than facts, immigration and health policy experts say.

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) condemned the Trump Administration’s final rule announced today that will change long-standing rules about legal immigrants’ use of public benefit programs. These “public charge” rules, which were released earlier in the year in draft form and drew more than 210,000 sets of comments from organizations and individuals across the country, including CWDA, will be published Wednesday in final form in the Federal Register.

A plan to establish a statewide 24/7 crisis hotline and mobile response system for California foster youth and caregivers has been given new life in the state legislature’s new budget after former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed the project last year.

The state legislature’s budget, which was passed on Thursday, includes $15 million from the state general fund in the next fiscal year to roll out the project, plus $30 million annually through the end of 2021 to operate the system. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until July 1 to sign the budget bill.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Foster parents often have trouble getting prompt help when a traumatized child in their care acts up or struggles to adapt to a new home.

SACRAMENTO – Tomorrow, January 16, millions of Californians will receive their February allotment of CalFresh food assistance benefits, which would normally be released starting February 1. This was an enormous, $550 million undertaking by the state and county human services agencies and our automation system staff that came together in less than a week. It is the first early issuance in California’s history.

By Daniel Heimpel

Last week, national TV news was filled with images of newly elected Members of Congress descending on Capitol Hill for their “freshman orientation.” My hope is that this change – and momentum on the heels of a major federal foster care law signed earlier this year – will create a new opportunity to get child welfare financing closer to what advocates, practitioners and lawmakers have long said they want, but have failed to deliver: True child maltreatment prevention.

SACRAMENTO – CWDA opposes the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to the rules that govern the consideration of whether certain legal immigrants are to be considered a “public charge,” released by the Department of Homeland Security on September 22, 2018. This unnecessary and cruel proposal changes long-standing federal policy governing the entry and livelihoods of our nation’s immigrant population.

 By Myles Barker

Foster youth and their caregivers may have a new way to seek support in tough times.

That new way is through Assembly Bill 2043.

“The children in California’s foster care system have experienced abuse, neglect and mental trauma, and Assembly Bill 2043 will give these children and their caregivers an immediate way to stabilize distressing situations that may arise.” — Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula

A number of news outlets have published articles in the past two weeks about the children and parents separated by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) as they cross our borders. Some of these articles have referred to the children handed over to contracted agencies and placed into homes as being “in foster care.” This is not the case, and the record must be set straight.

By Susan Abram

The woman used a thick extension cord on her foster children.

Welts rose. Bruises formed. Fear became the norm inside the Watts neighborhood home in Los Angeles where LaToya Cooper and six other children were sent to live.

But no one believed the then-fifth grader. Not Cooper’s teachers. Not the police.

John Burton Advocates for Youth

SAN FRANCISCO, April 10 — More California foster youth who are seniors in high school are headed to college, thanks to the first coordinated statewide effort to help them submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receive financial aid for college.  As part of the inaugural California Foster Youth FAFSA Challenge, led by John Burton Advocates for Youth, four county offices of education were named winners for their efforts and received checks at the Foster Youth Education Summit in Pomona on Tuesday, April 10.

By Jeremy Loudenback, March 15, 2018

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a stop-gap measure on Tuesday that will provide emergency funding to caregivers who take in a foster child before completing the approval process.

Over the past year, the state’s new approval process for caregivers in the state has led to lengthy funding delays for foster parents and relative caregivers, now collectively known as resource families.

CWDA Executive Director Frank Mecca will serve as vice chair of the California Budget & Policy Center in 2017. Frank has served on the Budget Center’s Board since 2013. The Budget Center Board elected its new leadership at its December meeting.

California is among 13 states receiving a grant for its Adult Protective Services (APS) system to address the abuse, neglect, and exploitations of older adults and people with disabilities.