Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth

Public Policy Goals and Priorities

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Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth
2010 Public Policy Goals and Priorities

Our Mission in Public Policy
MARFY will collaborate with parents, other advocates, public agencies, legislators and others to promote polices and practices that improve services for vulnerable children, strengthen families and communities, and enrich the lives of disadvantaged children and youth.

Guiding Principles

Children have a right to education, to physical and mental health care, and to be safe, nurtured and supported in homes and communities where they live.
Services need to be provided where families live and where children go to school and must build on existing child, family and community strengths and resources.
Programs and services, and the people who provide them, must respect ethnic and cultural diversity.
Children and parents must be involved in making decisions about the services they receive.
Communities are the source of opportunity for children and families and must be supported in their efforts to strengthen families, protect children and to prepare them for adulthood.
Services provided to strengthen children families and communities must move people to self reliance.
Fear, prejudice and discrimination that would prevent children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems from living in the community must be eliminated.

2010 Goals and Priorities

Ensure the adequacy of funding for services for children and families with emphasis on: 1) protecting funds needed to ensure quality services for children who require out-of-home placements; 2) funding for home and community based non-residential services and supports including Medicaid reimbursed mental health services; 3) ensuring continued funding for services for children with developmental disabilities who age out of foster care; and preserving and restoring funds for community-based delinquency prevention and diversion services, including alternatives to secure detention.
Promote and support child welfare policies and practices which encompass a commitment to a continuum of services including continued access to high quality residential group care and treatment foster care for children who need these services.
Promote and support policies and practices that prioritize prevention and diversion services, reduce the use of detention and other forms of incarceration, and increase the use of family focused, home and community-based services to reduce the incidence and effects of juvenile delinquency.
Promote the development of an expanded array of services for transition-aged youth through implementation of Maryland’s Ready by 21 Five Year Action Plan with heightened emphasis on supports for youth with developmental disabilities who are transitioning out of foster care at age 21. This includes ensuring that DHR and the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) have in place, policies and practices that ensure timely transfer of responsibilities from Local Departments of Social Services and private sector agencies to DDA when appropriate.
Promote interagency collaboration and service integration through implementation of the Child and Family Services Interagency Strategic Plan adopted by the Children’s Cabinet in 2008. This includes the development of a uniform protocol and tool for monitoring private providers and a uniform policy and procedure for incident reporting.
Promote child welfare workforce development by: 1) increasing salaries/wages for direct care staff; 2) increasing funds available for higher education tuition waivers and tuition assistance; 3) ensure that Maryland draws down Title IV-E federal training funds to support additional professional training for individuals working in the private sector consistent with provisions of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.