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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, Sept. 30, 2005
Contact: Jane Norris
(202) 401-9215
ACF Awards Over $2.8 Million in Hurricane Aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. – HHS’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) today announced over $2.8 million in funding for national resource centers to assist states affected by Hurricane Katrina.
“The funding we are announcing today will go a long way toward getting hurricane-affected states the help they need to restore essential services to children and families,” said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS’ assistant secretary for children and families. “The Bush Administration is committed to ensuring that states receive the support and technical expertise they need to meet the needs of abused and neglected children and foster and adoptive families, many of whom have suffered the loss of their homes and possessions and have been dislocated to other cities and states.”
The federal money will help states to rebuild child welfare service delivery and family court systems disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. The national resource centers will assist with a variety of urgent issues such as coordinating services for foster children evacuated from other states; locating foster children, foster families and birth families; reestablishing and sharing records; reestablishing information systems; and reinstating court functions.
The awards are as follows:
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$300,000 for the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption, operated by Spaulding for Children, in Southfield, Michigan;
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$600,000 for AdoptUsKids, operated by the Adoption Exchange Association, in Baltimore;
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$300,000 for the National Resource Center for Child Protective Services, operated by ACTION for Child Protection, Inc., in Charlotte;
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$300,000 for the National Child Welfare Resource center on Legal and Judicial Issues, operated by the American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education, in Washington, D.C.;
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$300,000 for the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development, operated by the University of Oklahoma, in Tulsa;
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$437,500 to the National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement, operated by the University of Southern Maine, in Portland, Maine;
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$300,000 for the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning, operated by the Research Foundation of CUNY, in New York City; and
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$300,000 for the National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology, operated by the Child Welfare League of America, in Washington, D.C.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news