HUD Releases Notice of Funding Availability for Family Unification Program (Funding)

Strengthening Intensive Family Preservation Services Programs (Resources)

Adaptations of Evidence-Based Parenting Programs to Engage Fathers in Child Maltreatment Prevention (Grants Notice)

Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action (Study)

Effective Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations (Booklet)

Unclaimed Children Revisited: The Status of Children’s Mental Health Policy in the United States (Report)

• HUD Releases Notice of Funding Availability for Family Unification Program (Funding)
  On November 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued the 2008 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) inviting public housing authorities nationwide to apply for a portion of $20 million in new Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for the Family Unification Program (FUP). FUP provides homeless and poorly housed families involved with the child welfare system with decent and affordable housing and supportive services in order to safely reunite them with their children. FUP vouchers are also available to prevent homelessness among former foster youth. These vital resources are available thanks to the hard work of Senators Murray and Bond and the staff at HUD!
  http://www.nchcw.org/
  To download a one page alert about FUP for child welfare professionals, visit: http://www.nchcw.org/files/FUP/Child%20Welfare%20FUP%20Alert.pdf

• Strengthening Intensive Family Preservation Services Programs (Resources)
  In response to inquiries with regard to establishing or strengthening Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) programs and concern about this topic at the recent IFPS summit, the National Family Preservation Network will offer three resources:
  1) Sample RFP: The Missouri Children’s Division has a comprehensive Request for Proposal for Intensive In-Home Services, which includes provision for an initial planning and consultation meeting between the contractor and state agency staff and development of a site plan, service goals and specific outcome indicators that must be met, referral criteria of imminent placement of a child within 72 hours, requirement for an initial family assessment and goal directed service plan, an intervention model that emphasizes teaching skill building to the family, 24/7 availability of the worker, detailed qualifications, training, and job responsibilities for workers and supervisors. (This sample is available online.)
  2) IFPS ToolKit: One of the top priorities emanating from the IFPS Summit is the development of an IFPS ToolKit (to be completed by Fall 2009).
  3) IFPS Program Review: In order to better assist agencies that desire to strengthen their IFPS programs, NFPN is offering to review an agency’s current IFPS program and provide specific recommendations for improvement. The paper review with written recommendations is available for a fee of $1,000.
  http://www.nfpn.org/index.php..

• Adaptations of Evidence-Based Parenting Programs to Engage Fathers in Child Maltreatment Prevention (Grants Notice)
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Procurement and Grants Office has published a funding opportunity announcement entitled, "Adaptations of Evidence-Based Parenting Programs to Engage Fathers in Child Maltreatment Prevention (U01)" Approximately $400,000 will be available in fiscal year 2009 to fund 2 awards. The purposes of this announcement is to solicit research applications that will help advance our knowledge of effective strategies for engaging the participation of fathers and male caregivers in evidence-based parenting programs that may prevent child maltreatment. The estimated funding date is prior to August 31, 2009. The Letter of Intent Receipt Date is December 29, 2008.The Application Submission Receipt Date is February 23, 2009. For complete program details, please see the full announcement on the CDC website.
  http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/CE09-002.htm

• Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action (Study)
  The Forum partnered with the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Nonprofits to publish Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action: Principles, Organizational Culture and Outcomes. This study focuses on how organizations translate principles of youth engagement into practice and build a culture of partnership, as well as the outcomes – for young people, institutions and communities – that can result when they do. The research focuses on two organizations, Austin Voices for Education and Youth and Oasis Community IMPACT in Nashville, TN, but the lessons can help any organization committed to meaningful youth engagement advance their efforts in concrete ways.
  http://forumfyi.org/node/581

• Effective Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations (Booklet)
  Effective advocacy, especially at the local and State levels, can help promote a nonprofit organization's mission and enhance services and funding. A new online booklet, Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government, is designed to prepare nonprofit organizations for engaging in advocacy by exploring the following elements: generalized processes and principles of how to influence public policy; guiding questions that will help translate an understanding of general principles into appropriate strategies; case stories and sample advocacy plans. This publication also provides an extensive list of advocacy resources, and users may find it helpful to view sample advocacy plans from the Montana Nonprofit Association and Des Moines Public Schools. Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government was developed through a partnership between the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest.
  http://www.wkkf.org/advocacyhandbook/index.htm
  

• Unclaimed Children Revisited: The Status of Children’s Mental Health Policy in the United States (Report)
  Over 25 years ago, Jane Knitzer documented policy and program disconnects that meant children and youth with mental health needs and their families did not get the services they needed. That report, along with family advocacy, served as a spur to improve service delivery for the most troubled children. In the intervening years, there has also been an explosion of knowledge about the biological and social determinants of children’s mental health issues, new understandings of how children and their problems develop and new ways of providing preventive and treatment services. And so, more than a quarter of a century later, the National Center for Children in Poverty posed the central question for today’s children’s mental health system: to what extent is this new knowledge incorporated into the policy and practice frameworks governing children’s mental health? This report is based on a study that documents how current child mental health policies across the United States respond to the needs of children and youth with mental health problems, those at-risk and their families. Our aim was to identify best policy practices that support family- and youth-focused, research-informed, developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically competent services and supports.
  http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_853.html

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