Spring 2020
March
Hosted a policy call with Patrick Lester that focuses on examining opportunities for adoption programs in Family First.
April
Hosted a Town Hall for agencies, providers, families, and individuals who work and support youth in foster care waiting to be adopted, and the families who adopt them. The meeting centered around the needs of the adoption and foster care community during the novel COVID-19 pandemic.
Wrote a Call to Action letter to congress that focuses on ways federal funding changes can support families to keep children safe from child abuse and neglect, strengthen response and intervention systems to meet the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, and address the needs of older youth already in, or transitioning out of, the foster care system.
As the COVID-19 Pandemic continued in the U.S., VFA compiled a list of COVID-19 and foster care and adoption resources for the general public
May
VFA urges members to contact members of congress to advocate for the CARES 2.0 Stimulus Package. More specific requests include providing an additional $500 billion in state financial relief as requested by the National Governors Association, increasing the FMAP reimbursement rate to 12% under Medicaid and all of Title IV-E, increase funding to Title IV-B, Part 2 (PSSF) by $1 billion, increase Chafee Funding by $500 million and extend eligibility for foster care and Chafee aftercare services to age 23 so no young person ages out during the pandemic.
