{"id":7813,"date":"2022-04-11T22:28:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T22:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/new-law-helps-parents-navigate-child-welfare-system\/"},"modified":"2022-04-11T22:28:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T22:28:11","slug":"new-law-helps-parents-navigate-child-welfare-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/new-law-helps-parents-navigate-child-welfare-system\/","title":{"rendered":"New Law Helps Parents Navigate Child Welfare System"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve been following the Parents for Parents bill<\/a> in our policy updates<\/a> throughout the legislative session, so we are thrilled that the bill finally made its way to the governor\u2019s desk where is was officially signed into law on April 25th<\/sup>. This bill represents a lot of hard work by legislators and many of our partners.<\/p>\n

SB 5486, sponsored by Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, will improve the Parents for Parents program, which engages families who have children in foster care and connects them to parents who have successfully gone through dependency and are prepared to offer support.<\/p>\n

The legislation will help vulnerable families reunite or stay together. Parents who have interacted with the child welfare system before are prepared to offer support by sharing the necessary steps required in order to successfully reunite with their children. This firsthand account can help parents who are currently trying to get their children back make it seem possible despite the challenging process ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe child welfare system can be a scary process for families,\u201d said Frockt. \u201cIt\u2019s very unfamiliar, people are worried that they\u2019ll lose custody of their children, and the cases often include substance abuse situations or severe economic challenges. Connecting families with other people who have already been through the dependency process and are trained to help will make the process easier and less confusing for those who are trying to responsibly keep their families together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program has been implemented in a few courts across the state and has shown great promise. If funds are available, the program will be formally evaluated to better understand its impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeer mentorship can make an enormous difference when it comes to helping families navigate the complicated and confusing child dependency system,\u201d said Alise Hegle, Parent Engagement Coordinator with the Children\u2019s Home Society of Washington. \u201cParents familiar with the system can show parents currently going through the system that challenges like substance abuse and communication difficulties can be overcome, and that families can be reunited or kept together if the parents fulfill their responsibilities. This is a great program and this bill will make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about the new law, please comment below or send us an email at info@partnersforourchildren.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SB 5486 will improve the Parents for Parents program, which engages families who have children in foster care and connects them to parents who have successfully gone through dependency and are prepared to offer support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[142],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7813\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnersforourchildren.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}