Felipe Montes was recently deported to Mexico leaving behind his two sons and pregnant wife. Without Felipe’s support, his wife Marie found it difficult to support the family, resulting in the removal of all three children from her care and their placement in two separate foster homes. Despite both Felipe and Marie’s pleas for the children to be placed with their father in Mexico rather than foster care, the county is pushing for reunification rights to be terminated and to move forward with adoption proceedings.  To read more about Felipe Montes and his family, click here or to learn more about the over 5,100 children currently in foster care in the United States due to the detainment or deportation of a parent, click here.

The case of a two-year-old girl who had recently reunified with her parents and shortly thereafter was murdered by them has increased concern about the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.  The young girl was removed from the care of her parents at birth and placed in foster care, as was the history of her eight older siblings.  The child re-unified with her family in 2010 despite concerns raised by both her siblings and a foster family agency administrator. This tragic case should help to remind us that the input of siblings and consideration of family history are important factors in decisions about reunification. Click here to read more.

In discussions on the increasing cost of housing, the impact it has on foster youth is rarely considered. The lack of affordable housing may result in a youth being removed from their parents care, placed out of county making parental visits difficult, increased difficulty in reunification, or a number of other challenges to child welfare. Additionally, CASA volunteers must often travel greater distances to visit their youth who are placed out of county. A new bill, Senate Bill 1220, was introduced last week, which would create a fund for the preservation of affordable housing collected from real estate transactions. This fund would support low- and moderate-income households, rental housing, foreclosure mitigation, and homeownership opportunities. To read more about how housing affects the foster care system or to read more about Senate Bill 1220, please click here.