Resources & Publications: Integrating Systems
- Mar 30, 2011 | Stephanie Schmit Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program: February 2011 SIR Analysis The latest Evidence-Based Home Visiting Supplemental Information Request (SIR) has recently been released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with collaboration from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). This information request provides states guidance in preparing their updated plans for their home visiting programs. The new information request strengthens the earlier guidance in important ways. Download PDF
- Aug 18, 2010 | Rutledge Q. Hutson & Tiffany Conway Perrin Comments on Proposed Criteria for Evidence of Effectiveness of Home Visiting Program Models These comments, submitted to the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families, were submitted in response to the proposed criteria for evidence of effectiveness of home visiting program models to be implemented by states under the new home visiting program established in the Affordable Care Act. CLASP's comments include recommendations for strengthening the final criteria so that they better reflect the law's goal of helping states build the capacity to implement a coordinated system of early childhood home visitation. The recommendations also encourage strengthening the final criteria by providing much needed information, particularly as related to process, so that states are well-prepared to update their state plans and dialogue with HRSA/ACF as appropriate. Download PDF
- Aug 09, 2010 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Comments to Office of Child Support Enforcement: Proposed Rulemaking on Safeguarding Child Support Information These comments address proposed changes to the sharing of child support information specifically as related to information sharing with child welfare agencies for child welfare purposes. CLASP hopes that the final regulations more clearly identify what information can be shared to help child welfare agencies carry out their responsibilities under Titles IV-B and IV-E and that, in particular, they clarify how information regarding family violence can be shared in a safe and appropriate manner. Download PDF
- Mar 31, 2010 | Tiffany Conway Perrin Detailed Summary of Home Visitation Program in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act included, among other critical provisions, $1.5 billion in mandatory funding over 5 years for high quality, evidence-based, voluntary early childhood home visitation services. This investment will significantly expand home visitation services, helping to ensure that more children have the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe, ready to learn and able to become productive members of society. This summary details the provisions of the new program. Download PDF
- Jan 25, 2010 | CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2010 Our nation faces many domestic challenges, including improving access to affordable health care, improving access to education as well as education outcomes, and providing debt and foreclosure relief. CLASP's 2010 federal policy recommendations are equally essential to achieving healthy and thriving families and improving the nation's prosperity. Read Online | Download PDF
- Dec 11, 2009 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Poverty and Child Maltreatment: Common Challenges and Solutions This presentation looks at the connections between child maltreatment and poverty and explores common challenges and solutions to addressing both issues. In particular, the presentation focuses on the opportunities for TANF and child welfare agencies to work together under current law to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families and begins to examine enhancements that could be made when the TANF program is reauthorized (the current program will expire in 2010). Download PDF
- Jun 01, 2009 | Tiffany Conway Comments to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid on the Proposed Rule on Case Management Services CLASP supports the proposed partial rescission of the case management services interim final rule (CMS-2237-IFC) and believes that the rescission will help ensure that abused and neglected children receive critical case management services. Download PDF
- Jun 03, 2008 | Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Q. Hutson Healthy Marriage and the Legacy of Child Maltreatment: A Child Welfare Perspective The twelfth in a series on Couples and Marriage Research Policy, this brief looks at marriage from a notably different perspective than previous briefs in the series. This brief explores how childhood experiences, specifically child maltreatment and involvement with the child welfare system, impact the potential for a healthy,lasting marriage. The brief summarizes the research on the barriers to a healthy marriage and what is known about the long term impacts of child maltreatment and foster care. Finally, the authors offer recommendations for addressing the unique needs of couples in which one or both partners have experienced childhood maltreatment. Download PDF
- Feb 06, 2008 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the Interim Final Rule Regarding Medicaid Case Management and Targeted Case Management Services CLASP is concerned about the detrimental effects the interim final rule regarding Medicaid case management and targeted case management services, will have on children being served by child welfare programs, including child protective services and foster care programs. Download PDF
- Jan 30, 2008 | Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Q. Hutson Parental Incarceration: How to Avoid a "Death Sentence" for Families First published by the Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy in Summer 2007, this paper highlights a number of promising services and supports for incarcerated parents and recommends what attorneys representing or working with incarcerated parents and their children can do to minimize harm to children. Download PDF
- Apr 24, 2007 Recommendations for Improving Education Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster Care Through Amendments to the McKinney-Vento Act/Education Reauthorization in the No Child Left Behind Act The reauthorization of Title X, Part C of the No Child Left Behind McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides an opportunity for schools to better understand the unique situations and experiences of children in foster care and for child welfare agencies to focus more on the educational needs and outcomes of the children and youth they are serving. This set of recommendations is a joint publication by CLASP, the Child Welfare League of America, the Children's Defense Fund, Lutheran Services in America, and Voices for America's Children. Download PDF
- Feb 27, 2007 The Promise of New Funding for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment to Promote Safety, Permanence, and Well-Being for Children: Questions & Answers About New Grants under the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 P.L. 109-288 These questions and answers (Q&A) were prepared by an informal coalition of groups, including the American Public Human Services Association, Center for Law and Social Policy, Child Welfare League of America, Children's Defense Fund, Legal Action Center, National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights. Our group convened after passage of the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 to develop materials about the new funding and the opportunity for those concerned about alcohol and drug addiction and its impact on children and families to use it to improve outcomes for children and families. We hope that this Q&A will stimulate organizations and agencies to begin planning and forming regional partnerships so they will be ready to apply for grants under the Act once they are formally announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Spring of 2007. Read Online
- Jan 19, 2007 | Tiffany Conway & Rutledge Q. Hutson In-Depth Summary of Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 The Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 (CFSIA) represents an important step toward providing crucial services to children and families involved or at risk of becoming involved with the child welfare system. Of particular benefit are the addition of $40 million annually and the attention given to improving the workforce and addressing substance abuse, specifically methamphetamine abuse. This summary outlines the provisions of the law. Download PDF
- Sep 12, 2006 | Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Hutson Comments to the Children's Bureau, ACF on the Proposed Rule to Implement the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) These are CLASP's official comments to ACF on the proposed rule to implement the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2006. This is the rule proposed for implementing the data collection requirements of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. Download PDF
- Aug 29, 2006 | Rutledge Hutson Comments to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Interim Final Rule This document contains CLASP's official comments to CMS on the interim final rule published in the federal register on July 12, 2006. The regulations implement the citizenship documentation requirements of Section 6036 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Download PDF
- Feb 10, 2004 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Providing Comprehensive, Integrated Social Services to Vulnerable Children and Families: Are There Legal Barriers at the Federal Level to Moving Forward? Over the past several years, social service providers have increasingly recognized that families seeking assistance often face multiple, complex needs and that they require the services of more than one program. Working in consultation with state and local officials, this paper offers a model of cross-system integration focusing on comprehensive services for children and families. This paper was written as part of a collaborative effort between the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, CLASP, and the Hudson Institute. Download PDF
- Aug 04, 2003 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Comments on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System This letter, submitted by CLASP to the federal Childrens Bureau, comments on how to improve the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). The data collected through AFCARS provide critical information to federal, state, and local governments, as well as to advocates and researchers, which can be used to improve program management and to enhance policy development and implementation. These comments offer suggestions about improving AFCARS so that this data collection system can be a more effective tool in improving the welfare of children in foster care and of those who have been adopted through the child welfare system. The comments fall into four general categories: (1) developing the capacity to track children over time; (2) improving the comparability of data across states; (3) collecting critical additional data and (4) enhancing access to data on a timely basis. Download PDF
- Apr 29, 2003 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Side-by-Side Comparison of Child Welfare Provisions in Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals This chart summarizes child welfare provisions in current Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) law and recent TANF reauthorization legislation and proposals. Download File
- Jan 15, 2003 | Rutledge Q. Hutson A Vision for Eliminating Poverty and Family Violence: Transforming Child Welfare and TANF in El Paso County, Colorado When El Paso County, Colorado, considered how to bring the work of the child welfare and TANF agencies together, it decided to change its whole way of doing business. This paper examines how El Paso created seamless, family-centered services and offers a set of lessons that can be drawn from El Paso's experience. Download PDF | Additional PDF