Community members in various states may want to get involved in advocating for legislative or administrative reforms that reduce family poverty and increase children’s opportunities to return home. Some next steps to assess readiness at the state level include the following, suggested by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (1):
Other activities to help engage community members in learning about this issue and becoming involved include:
- Develop clear guidance establishing non-referral to child support enforcement agencies as the standard practice;
- Reprogram computer systems to stop the automatic referral of cases;
- Provide adequate training for caseworkers and other agency personnel on new guidance and its practices, including specific criteria for staff to determine the rare cases that should be referred;
- Establish quality control mechanisms to review cases that are flagged for referral before they are referred; and
- Adopt practices that improve coordination between child welfare and child support programs — programs that are often siloed even though many families involved in the child welfare system are also served by child support.
Other activities to help engage community members in learning about this issue and becoming involved include:
- Write an op-ed for your local news outlet
- Submit a news item for your association or organization’s newsletter
- Contact child and family service agencies in your state to make them aware of this issue
- Meet with state legislators to determine appetite for carrying legislation
- Identify parents who have been affected by current policies and collect their stories.
1. Azevedo-McCaffrey, Diana. (2022). States should use new guidance to stop charging parents for foster care, prioritize family reunification. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/10-13-22fis.pdf.