National Reunification Month Reception and Policy Discussion

Please join the Annie E. Casey Foundation in partnership with POV and its cosponsors for a reception and policy conversation about family reunification and family support as an important permanency goal for children in foster care. The National Reunification Month event will be held 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17 at the Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium.

Approximately half of all children who leave foster care each year return to their biological families. However, a good portion of those children return to foster care a second or third time. Policymakers are interested in ensuring that families are better supported so that children can avoid the need for foster care in the first place or, when children do need foster care they can be safely and stably reunified with their families. The policy discussion will focus on strategies that give children who are reunified with their families the best chance for success in life.

We are pleased to be joined by the following partner organizations in cosponsoring this event: National Association of Drug Court Professionals, American Bar Association Center for Children and Law, National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, Advocates for Families First, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, National Court Appointed Special Advocates, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

During the event, segments of a new documentary film “Tough Love” by Stephanie Wang-Breal will be shown to highlight the challenges and opportunities for parents seeking to reunite with children in foster care.

Families featured in the film are scheduled to attend and participate in the policy discussion. Also scheduled to speak are Mark Greenberg, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Laura Berntsen, policy staff with the Senate Finance Committee; Judge Patricia Clark, Seattle, Washington; and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth.

We hope to see you there.