Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day—February 13
Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day—February 13
We are asking everyone in the adoption community to take part in the first grassroots Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day. Unfortunately, many adoptive families are still not aware that this tax credit exists. It is our goal to help ensure that all adoptive families who are eligible to receive this benefit are informed about how to claim the credit.
We are asking everyone, including professionals, advocates, state agencies, families, and others to help broadcast the existence of the adoption tax credit on one given day—February 13. You can either copy this text into an e-mail or print flier you share with others or download a flier to distribute.
Save the Date: Plan now to be part of the Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day on Monday, February 13, 2012—a national effort highlighting the federal tax credit available to adoptive families.
Play Your Part: Join with adoption organizations, state agencies, adoptive families, advocates, and other interested parties to raise visibility of the adoption tax credit. Help spread the word collectively, through website postings, e-mail blasts, newsletters, social media, and other informational outlets, so eligible families that may not be aware of this benefit can be sure to access the credit. Families who adopted as far back as 2005 may still benefit if they haven’t already. Be sure to include non-internet based strategies since some adoptive families do not have access to the internet.
The Facts:
Since 2003, families who adopted a U.S. child with special needs from foster care could claim a federal adoption tax credit even if they had no adoption expenses (as long as their income was below the fairly generous income requirements).
Children who receive adoption assistance/subsidy benefits are considered children with special needs. Even families who receive a deferred subsidy ($0 per month but medical coverage through the subsidy program) are eligible.
April 18: Adoption/Licensing/Foster Care/Independent Living MIN Day
Members Event:
April 18:
Adoption/Licensing/Foster Care/Independent Living-Homeless Youth MIN meeting Day
May-June: Adoption Competency Curriculum Training FREE through National Resource Center for Adoption
The National Resource Center for Adoption is offering training in May and June 2011 on five modules of its Adoption Competency Curriculum:
- May 12: Module 1: Federal Laws Impacting Adoption Placement
- May 25 & 26: Module 2: Child/Youth Assessment & Preparation
- June 8 & 9: Module 3: Family Assessment & Preparation
- June 9: Module 4: Decision Making & Placement Selection
- June 15: Module 5: Post Adoption Services
This series is designed as a comprehensive curriculum for training child welfare practitioners in public and private agencies who provide adoption services for children/youth who have been abused or neglected. Registration for each module is limited to 25 participants. All course materials and lunch are provided free of charge. Social Work CECHs are offered for participants who complete one or more modules. An Adoption Competency Overview booklet is available, along with registration information. See attachments below.
May 21st: Rising Above the Odds Against Me: Girls Only Summit
Presenting the 3rd Annual Fostercare Youth Leadership Conference "Rising Above the Odds Against Me: Girls Only Summit"
There are many unfortunate consequences that foster care youth face as they prepare to “age-out” of the system. Intervention on behalf of this “At-Risk” population can play a key role in motivating such individuals to excel and to rise above the limitations that often arise because of their circumstances.
Mission: To offer a variety of interactive sessions that will promote independence, security, self-esteem and personal development. A special focus of the conference will be to provide youth with a forum to discuss their challenges and ambitions and to encourage them to develop a plan for achieving their goals.
Rising Above the Odds Against Me: Girls Only Summit
Saturday, May 21, 2011
8:30 AM - 6:30 PM (ET)
Dearborn, MI
Click here for more information and to register!
Sponsored By: Save Our Children Coalition, University of Michigan-Dearborn School of Education, H.I.S. Agency, Jack & Jill of Ypsilanti, University of Michigan School of Social Work-Ann Arbor and many more
Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law
Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law
Jean Hoffman, who has worked on implementation of this law for its ten-year existence, offers numerous handouts, including business cards, brochures, pens, post-its, etc., for distribution in your communities. She is also available to do presentations around the state and/or provide materials for information booths at conferences and events. If you are interested in reviewing a near-final version of a Safe Delivery manual that is being written for private agencies, she would like to hear from you.
Contact Jean at hoffmanjean9@gmail.com or call her at (517) 244-0704.
You can also order resources (handouts) using this email: MichSafeDelivery@gmail.com
Foster Youth Internship applications due January 7
The Foster Youth Internship Program of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is for young adults who spent at least 24 consecutive months in foster care at any point in their life and who have completed at least four semesters of higher education by May 31, 2011. CCAI places these interns in Congressional offices in Washington DC for a nine-week internship program. Housing, travel, and a weekly stipend are provided by CCAI. Applications are accepted through January 7, 2011.
The program will run May 31-July 30, 2011. The goal of the program is to educate policymakers about the experiences of foster youth in an effort to inspire legislative improvements for foster care. Interns participating in this program benefit both personally and professionally, gaining experience and skills that will bolster their careers for years to come.
For more information and to apply, visit www.ccainstitute.org/fyiapply or contact Emily Collins at Emily@ccainstitute.org or 202-544-8500.
HHS awards $39 million to states for increasing adoptions
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $39 million to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. States use the funds from this adoption incentive award to improve their child welfare programs. Michigan’s adoption incentive award is $3,511,033. Only two states earned more of this funding: Texas with $7,468,475 and Florida with $5,718,271. States receive $4,000 for every child adopted beyond their best year’s total, plus a payment of $8,000 for every child age 9 and older and $4,000 for every special needs child adopted above the respective baselines. The year 2007 was the baseline. Click here for a list of each state’s adoption incentive award amount.
MSU Survey: Understanding the Costs of Adoption
Attention families who adopted in 2007, 2008 and 2009
July 2010
Dear Adoptive Parent:
Member agencies of the Michigan Federation for Children and Families are pleased to partner with economics and social work researchers at Michigan State University to participate in a special research project involving families in Michigan who adopted within the past three years.
The purpose of this study is to encourage families to adopt children by understanding the full range of costs and subsidies associated with child adoption. We hope to identify the supports that might encourage adoption and better understand how families use existing supports. Understanding the costs and subsidies of adoption will help public and private adoption organizations to better serve potential adoptive families. Survey results may also reveal important implications for policy.
Your family’s adoption experience is an important component of the larger picture being sought through this research.
We encourage you to complete the posted survey and send it directly to MSU. Responses will be most useful if returned by July 31, 2010.
If you have any questions or concerns, please communicate directly with the MSU researchers. Contact information for MSU is provided in the cover letter from Dr. Mark Skidmore.
Thank you so much for your time, efforts, and support.
Special Review of Higher Risk Cases Period Three: 10/1/09-3/31/10
The Dwayne B. v. Granholm consent decree requires DHS to develop and implement a statewide Quality Assurance (QA) program, directed by a QA Unit established within the DHS central office. The Child Welfare QA Unit has been established as a division of the Child Welfare Improvement Bureau to ensure the provision of service in accordance with DHS philosophy. The Child Welfare QA Unit’s aim is to foster a continuous quality improvement (CQI) culture throughout DHS by introducing CQI concepts to all levels of the child welfare system, training staff on improvement processes and integrating CQI philosophy into long-term and everyday decision making. The QA unit has developed an internal capacity to undertake data collection, verification, and analysis in addition to case record reviews for the higher risk cases identified in the consent decree.
After the submission of the CQI plan in April 2009, the QA Unit began to conduct special reviews as specified by the consent decree. The Data Management Unit (DMU) provides an initial list of identified cases for the high-risk categories. The QA Unit reviews each identified case in the Foster Care Services Worker Support System (SWSS-FAJ) to pre-screen for possible data errors, and ensure that the case meets the cohort definition. The DMU and the QA Unit will continue to refine the querying process to the fullest extent possible.
The QA Unit completed special reviews for Period Three: October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010. This report is a summary of the findings for the special case reviews conducted for during this period.
Child Welfare Training Institute (CWTI) In-service Training in the Upper Peninsula
To alleviate travel time and expense pressures, assist workers to comply with required in-service training hours, and to partner with colleagues, CWTI will be sending trainers to three separate regions of the U.P. this summer. CWTI trainers will provide half and full day sessions on a variety of topics. Dates, topics, and locations will be posted on JJOLT. It is recommended that supervisors consult with staff to facilitate registrations and maximize opportunity to attend and accrue in-service hours.
CWTI intends to provide three full days of training in each location. Individual session capacity will be posted on JJOLT with each of the dates and times. Staff may attend just one session or as many as interest and schedules permit.
The initial dates and locations are June 29 – July 1, 2010 at the DHS/OPD training center in Escanaba (Delta County).
Download June 7, 2010 below.
Federal Adoption Tax Credit: Info for 2009 & 2010
For background and current status of the federal Adoption Tax Credit, download the attached Adoption Advocate newsletter issued by the National Council for Adoption.
Additionally, these sites are listed for your convenience:
- The IRS tax topic can be viewed at http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html
- The entire IRS publication is available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p968--2002.pdf
- Forms referenced in the newsletter can be accessed at:
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html?portlet=3
http://www.ssa.gov/online/
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