NACC HAPPENINGS
NACC Celebrates with the Children's Attorneys Project
NACC joined the Children’s Attorneys Project (CAP) of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada in celebrating their 20 th anniversary. 

CAP was the inaugural winner of NACC’s Outstanding Children's Law Office Award . Congratulations CAP! Thank you for your continued advocacy for children's rights and for reaching your goal of 100% legal representation of youth in foster care!
NACC MEMBERS-ONLY WEBINAR
Topic by CWLS Request!
Monday, December 9, 1:00-2:30pm ET

Child Welfare Law Year in Review

Presented by:
Steven Olender , Senior Policy Associate, Children's Defense Fund
Allison Green , JD, CWLS, NACC Legal Director

2019 was a busy and exciting year for child welfare law practitioners. Join this webinar to hear about the new statutes, case law, and policy changes that left their mark on the field. This webinar will be foundational for strong advocacy in the year ahead!
NACC is still in the process of rescheduling October's webinar, What do Foster Youth and Other Stakeholders Want From their Lawyer? Research Findings Chart the Course to High-Quality Legal Representation - stay tuned for further announcements.
NACC POLICY NEWS
NACC Urges Passage of the COURTS Act: Last month, NACC joined several partner organizations to urge Congress to pass the Continuation of Useful Resources to States (COURTS) Act. The legislation would reauthorize critical funding for state child welfare Court Improvement Programs that help support attorney training, certification, and other innovations. See Factsheet here --please share and send from your state!

NACC Supports Home Visiting Legislation : NACC signed on in support of the Home Visiting to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Act , which would double Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) funding.

NACC Urges CAPTA Funding: In October, NACC urged House and Senate committee members to continue to work towards reauthorization and increased funding for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). This advocacy built upon NACC's September letter urging Congress to amend CAPTA to explicitly add a right to legal counsel for children in dependency proceedings.

Other Policy News :

HHS Proposes Rule allowing LGBTQ discrimination in HHS policies. Click here for more information from the Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign, of which NACC is a partner organization. See sample talking points and other materials, and join the campaign!

Family First Transition Act introduced. The bipartisan Family First Transition Act was introduced this week in both the House and the Senate. The proposed legislation would phase in the requirement that 50% of a state’s prevention plan services fall under the “well-supported” category, guarantee insurance to states facing potential financial shortfalls due to expirations of Title IV-E Waiver Projects, and provide one-time funding to states to assist in implementation of the Family First Act. A summary of the bill can be found  here .

CONNECT Act was introduced in the House:   T he Childhood Outcomes Need New Efficient Community Teams, or CONNECT Act, was introduced to give youth who come in contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice system access to grants designed to better address their needs. A one-pager about this legislation can be found  here . The legislative text for H.R. 4911 can be found  here . This bill was also introduced in the Senate last May.

Family First Resource: Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act , a question-and-answer-style resource containing commonly (and not-so-commonly) asked questions about the many important provisions in Family First. Prepared by the Children's Defense Fund, ChildFocus, American Academy of Pediatrics, Generations United, FosterClub, Juvenile Law Center, and National Indian Child Welfare Association. All are encouraged to access the guide online, where it will be updated regularly, rather than downloading or printing it, to ensure you are using the most up-to-date version.

New AFCARS report . T he Children's Bureau released the 26th annual report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), reflecting estimates of children in the foster care system through September 30, 2018. Read the report here .
CERTIFICATION NEWS

Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) certification is a professional achievement that signifies an attorney's specialized knowledge, skill, and verified expertise in the field of child welfare law.

CWLS certification is for children's attorneys, parent's attorneys, agency attorneys, judges, and policy advocates/professors.
Congratulations to Our Newest Child Welfare Law Specialists!
Hon. Karen Braxton, CWLS
3 rd Circuit Court of Michigan
Detroit, MI

Charles Farrar, JD, CWLS
Charles P. Farrar, PLLC
Waterford, MI

Interested in becoming a Child Welfare Law Specialist?

NACC members benefit from 2019 Pricing: Members - $375 (Non-Members - $500) 
Application fee includes the exam and hard copy of  Child Welfare Law and Practice, 3rd Edition.
NACC's SPRING 2020 ONLINE RED BOOK TRAINING COURSE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
NACC's online Red Book Training Course is designed to assist you in preparing for the Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) examination, and serves as an excellent review of core dependency competency areas. The material covered in the course is drawn from Child Welfare Law and Practice: Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases (3rd Edition "Red Book"). The course consists of seven weekly webinars delivered over a period of 13 weeks. Participants can join the course live or watch/listen to recordings for a six-month period.

Registration is now open for NACC's Spring course March 4th, 2020 through April 15, 2020.

Individuals register through NACC at the link below. Applying for  CWLS Certification  is not required to take the Red Book Training--but why not take your practice to the next level and obtain this important credential?

To register a group of attorneys from your office, please contact NACC at  Training@NACCchildlaw.org . We can also create custom packages to include hard copy Red Books and/or CWLS certification applications.
CONFERENCE NEWS

Save the Date for Baltimore!

The 43rd Annual National Child Welfare Law Conference will be held August 24-26, 2020 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.
Pre-conference sessions will be on August 23, 2020.

Registration
Early registration is now open! Register now and save $100 off 2019 regular rates and take advantage of our $400 rates before rates increase in 2020.

Abstracts Open Soon!
Stay tuned for more news next week!
NACC MEMBER RESOURCES

Prior issues of The Guardian: Click here and check all the expanded content

Prior issues of The Advocate: Catch up on monthly news and events

Want to join the NACC listserv? Need help logging in? Email Membership@NACCchildlaw.org
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National Association of Counsel for Children | www.NACCchildlaw.org