Fostering Advocates Arizona (FAAZ), a group of young leaders with lived experience in the child welfare system, conducted two surveys during the pandemic: one of foster and former foster youth ages 14 to 26 and one of adult providers and allies.

Some of the results:

• Over 1/3 of young people reported that the health crisis had a negative impact on their educational progress.
• More than half reported struggling with safe and stable housing and their service providers and allies listed housing at the top of the list of requests for assistance and at the top of list where resources were lacking.
• Two-thirds of young people reported that they were struggling or starting to struggle to pay their bills.
• Two-thirds reported a reduction in, or loss, of employment and providers reported that helping youth navigate filing for unemployment benefits was a highly requested service.
• Just over half reported they are experiencing some level of food insecurity.
• About one-third of young people said they were starting to struggle with their social-emotional health, while providers/allies reported deep concern for the social-emotional well-being of youth.

A national level report from The Field Center at University of Pennsylvania found similar results on the challenges faced by transition-aged youth during the Coronavirus pandemic. In July, Governor Ducey directed $500,000 dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds to the Department of Child Safety to support the housing needs of youth aging out of foster care and kinship foster families. FAAZ and CAA are urging federal lawmakers to take immediate action to address the crisis being faced by young people transitioning out of foster care during this crisis:

• Establish a moratorium on “aging out” of foster care to ensure no young person is cut off from critical housing and support services during the public health emergency.
• Increase funding for the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to ensure young people have access to supports, such as housing, food, and cash assistance, and increase flexibility to allow more of these funds to cover housing costs for foster youth.

The results of the national and Arizona surveys reveal the toll that the crisis is taking on young people transitioning from foster care because of gaps in the social safety net and service structures. CAA and FAAZ are advocating to fill those gaps.

Be sure to check out Pivot to Positive a new and ongoing series of fact sheets written by and for transition age foster youth to help them navigate the COVID-19 crisis.

The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and the current manifestations of the nation’s troubled history of systemic racism has sparked outcries to not just reform, but to reimagine the criminal justice, health care, and education systems. Those same calls are also being heard in the child welfare community. These efforts center around supporting children within their families and communities to prevent child maltreatment as well as the compounding trauma and negative outcomes that stem from family separation when a child enters foster care.  

The child welfare system across the United States, and here in Arizona, disproportionately impacts families and communities of color. CAA’s refreshed Measures of Child Safety Report includes new data documenting this disproportionality. Black and American Indian children in Arizona are disproportionately likely to be reported to the Department of Child Safety (DCS) hotline and to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. While four percent of children in Arizona are Black, 16 percent of children in the state’s foster care system are Black. In other words, Black children are in foster care at a rate four times greater than their representation in the general population. Once in foster care, Black children are less likely to be placed with kin and more likely to be placed in congregate care settings such as group homes. American Indian children are under-represented in both exits from care to reunification and adoption.

While documenting and understanding the scope and extent of racial disparity in the child welfare system is an important and necessary step in beginning to address the problem, it is not new information to system-actors and it is certainly not news to children, families, and communities of color. Nor are the calls to address racial disparity in the child welfare system. What is new is the large chorus now calling for the transformation of the child welfare system. Earlier this month, the U.S. Children’s Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Prevent Child Abuse America® announced Thriving Families, Safer Children a first of its kind effort to fundamentally rethink child welfare -transforming it from a reactive child protection system to one designed to support child and family well-being and prevent child maltreatment and the unnecessary separation of families. The time is now for Arizona to join these efforts, rethink its approach to child protection, and reimagine an equitable child welfare system that supports children within their families and communities.

On Friday, August 7, 2020, the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act (H.R.7947) was released. This bipartisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), provides critical emergency support for older foster youth and grandparents and kin raising children. It aligns with Children’s Action Alliance’s COVID-19 policy recommendations and will provide urgently needed federal resources to help children, youth, and families navigate the difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key provisions of the legislation include:

Support for Older Youth

Each year, approximately 900 young people age out of the foster care system in Arizona. COVID-19 has made the already challenging transition to independence even more perilous for these young people. In addition to increasing funding for supportive services to transition-age foster youth, H.R. 7947 will allow young people to stay in the system past the age of 20 and permit those  who “aged-out” during the pandemic to voluntarily re-enter the system to access critical housing and support services during the public health emergency.

Support for Grandparents and Other Kin Raising Children 

In Arizona, nearly 6,000 children in foster care are placed with kin and an additional 200,000 children are being raised by kin outside of the foster care system. H.R. 7947provides 100 percent federal reimbursement for funds to carry out kinship navigator programs. CAA strongly supports kinship navigator programs because they link kinship caregivers to the information and resources they need to function at their full potential, including:

• access to information and resources for necessities, including food, safety supplies, and testing and treatment for COVID–19;
• access to technology to support remote learning or other activities that must be carried out virtually due to COVID-19,
• health care and other assistance, including legal assistance and assistance with making alternative care plans for children in the event the caregiver becomes unable to continue providing care,
• services to kinship families, including those outside of the child welfare system.

Help older foster youth and grandparents and kin raising children and urge Arizona Senators Sinema and McSally, to include this proposal in their negotiations for the next COVID-19 relief package.

For over 30 years, CAA has been the independent voice for Arizona’s children. We connect local, regional, and national partners with the goal of improving the lives of children through advocacy, information, and action.  Understanding that enduring social change is created through community empowerment, CAA is deeply committed to approaching all we do with an equity lens.  That commitment is reflected in our leadership team, which is comprised wholly of people of color, and our firm commitment to stakeholder-led advocacy. This is why we started and continue to support the Fostering Advocates Arizona (FAAZ).

FAAZ is a dynamic group of young people who have experienced foster care and who lend their time, expertise, and leadership to make the child welfare system better for children in care and those who have recently aged out. CAA raises funds each year so that the FAAZ leaders can work year-round to engage lawmakers, agency leadership, and other stakeholders around their policy priorities and recommendations. Please donate today to support these young leaders as they impact change in our state.

Right now, CAA and FAAZ are focused on lifting up and supporting the approximately 5,400 current and former foster youth ages 18 to 23 who are faced with the challenges of supporting themselves and staying healthy during COVID-19.  In partnership with FAAZ, our Child Welfare Policy Director, Molly Dunn, has been advocating for key policy changes during the COVID-19 crisis that will create a life-line for young people who are facing the cliff of aging out of care during a pandemic and economic crisis.

Your donation will help keep older foster youth connected to services and housed during the health crisis. Your generosity will ensure successful transitions by supporting efforts to:

• Place a moratorium on discharges of youth aging out of extended foster care at age 21.
• Loosen eligibility requirements for extended foster care around education and employment activities.
• Provide post-foster care services and supports to youth until age 23.

Click here to learn more about FAAZ.

Now more than ever, Children’s Action Alliance (CAA) will continue to push forward to ensure every child in our state is safe, healthy, and loved. We appreciate your support in our mission.

Respectfully,

—Damita Curry,  VP Development & Engagement

P.S. Your donation may be eligible for an above-the-line deduction (for total charitable contributions of up to $300) as Congress passed the  CARES Act  in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This charitable giving incentive applies to contributions made in 2020 and can be claimed when you file your taxes next year.  Please consult your tax preparer or consultant for more information.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month! On May 1^st, Arizona’s Department of Child Safety (DCS) ushered in this month by making an important and positive administrative change to make it easier for kinship families to access financial supports. Kinship families—grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives—are the backbone of Arizona’s child welfare system. They provide loving homes for over 40% of all foster children in the state. However, 87% of kinship foster placements are unlicensed, making them ineligible for a $640 per child monthly foster care maintenance payment. Instead, unlicensed kinship families receive a $75 per child monthly kinship stipend and are eligible to apply for TANF “child-only” benefits which provide about $164 a month.

Even though nearly 100% of kinship foster placements are eligible for these benefits, just 32% receive them. CAA partnered with DCS to provide kinship caregivers with assistance filling out and submitting the TANF application. Now, more kinship families will be able to access the supports they need to care for their relative foster children. CAA thanks the Department of Child Safety for supporting kin who step up and care for Arizona’s foster children. We also thank Senator Brophy McGee for partnering with Arizona’s Grandparent Ambassadors and Kinship Caregivers in championing this issue.

CAA will continue to partner with the Arizona Grandparent Ambassadors and Kinship Caregivers to advocate for equal supports for unlicensed kinship care providers. You can read more about this issue in our policy brief.

—Molly Dunn, JD, Director of Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice Policy

We are so grateful for your support of our AZ Gives campaign to benefit AZGA and FAAZ – especially during these unsettling times.  In a single day, we raised over $3,000 for critical assistance and outreach activities for grandparents raising grandchildren, kinship caregivers, and transition-age foster youth.

We will continue to raise funds for this campaign through April. The Rondeau Family has agreed to generously match donations up to $5,000. If you have not done so, please consider making a gift to CAA that is meaningful to you.

On behalf of the more than 198,000 children in our state being raised by grandparents and other relatives and foster youth who age out of the system each year, thank you for your continued support of our mission to improve the lives of Arizona’s children.

Please help CAA improve the lives of Arizona’s children, by participating in our Arizona Gives campaign. This effort, which continues all month long, kicks off TODAY, with #ArizonaGivesDay. Our AZ Gives campaign focuses on two groups who were already struggling to find a sense of normalcy and to be successful with limited resources before the pandemic – transition-age foster youth and kinship caregivers. Fostering Advocates Arizona (FAAZ), is a group of dynamic young leaders who have experienced foster care and who advocate to improve Arizona’s foster care system, and AZ Grandparents and Kinship Caregivers (AZGA) is a support and legislative advocacy network creating positive change for kinship families.

Click here to learn more and to donate

Today, we ask all Arizonans to come together to show support for nonprofits! The Rondeau Family will generously match up to $5,000 for donations made on their fundraising page. Click here to learn why they support CAA and to donate.

Your donation may be eligible for an above-the-line deduction (for total charitable contributions of up to $300) as Congress just passed the CARES Act in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This charitable giving incentive applies to contributions made in 2020 and can be claimed when you file your taxes next year.  Please consult your tax preparer or consultant for more information.

Thank you for your continued support. A special thanks to the Rondeau family not only for the match donation but for opening their hearts and home to foster two beautiful girls.

During this stressful time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded why our communities – children, parents, caregivers, co-workers, friends and donors like you – are so important to us. We appreciate your support in our relentless fight to improve the health, safety and education of Arizona’s children. Sadly, these basic needs for children are at even greater risk during these unsettling times. Now more than ever, Children’s Action Alliance (CAA) is pushing forward to ensure every child in our state is safe, healthy, and loved.

Please help CAA improve the lives of Arizona’s children, by participating in our Arizona Gives campaign. This effort, which we will continue all month long, kicks off tomorrow, April 7, with Arizona Gives Day. It is a day for all Arizonans to come together to show support for nonprofits!

Our AZ Gives campaign focuses on two groups who were already struggling to find a sense of normalcy and to be successful with limited resources before the pandemic – transition-age foster youth and kinship caregivers. Fostering Advocates Arizona (FAAZ), is a group of dynamic young leaders who have experienced foster care and who advocate to improve Arizona’s foster care system, and AZ Grandparents and Kinship Caregivers (AZGA) is a support and legislative advocacy network creating positive change for kinship families.

There are a couple ways you can participate this year aside from making a general donation.

1. You can support and champion CAA by creating your own fundraising page! Simply visit our profile and click on “Create a Fundraiser” to get started.
2. Become a sponsor and help us make donations go further with a matching gift! Match donations for an hour (or more) – just choose your time and the amount you’re willing to match. Reply to this email or call 602.266.07070 x202.

Your gift demonstrates to AZGA and FAAZ that the CAA community is together in the face of great adversity.

Philanthropy is a personal act of generosity, and only you know your situation. Respectfully, we ask that you reflect on your personal situation and consider a gift to CAA that is meaningful to you.

P.S. Did you know Section 2204 of the CARES Act that Congress just passed in response to the Coronavirus pandemic includes, an above-the-line deduction (universal or non-itemizer deduction that applies to all taxpayers) for total charitable contributions of up to $300? This charitable giving incentive applies to contributions made in 2020 and can be claimed when you file your taxes next year. Please consult your tax preparer or consultant for more information