Guiding Principles

The NOSAC Public Policy committee shall recommend a set of principles to guide NOSAC’s position on relevant public policy issues. These principles shall be reviewed annually and affirmed or updated as needed at the Spring meeting of the NOSAC membership. NOSAC supports:

• Policies and programs that are trauma-informed, evidence-supported, family-focused, culturally responsive, and community-based.
• Policies and programs that support families, empower communities, and prevent involvement in child welfare systems.
• Policies and programs that ensure out-of-home placement in foster care is used only when necessitated by safety concerns that cannot otherwise be mitigated and occurs in the least restrictive setting that is clinically indicated, for the least time possible, and close to the child’s family and community.
• Policies and programs that advance racial equity and reduce the entrenched patterns of disproportionate representation and disparate outcomes for minority children, youth, and families involved in child welfare systems.
• Policies and administrative practices that provide full funding for community services to enhance the wellbeing of children, youth, and families.
• Policies, administrative practices, and sufficient funding that supports a well-qualified, trained, and stable workforce serving children, youth, and families, including appropriate compensation (wages and benefits) for the required skills and experience of the workforce.
• Policies and administrative practices that safeguard the interests of marginalized children, youth, and families throughout the design, implementation and administration of Medicaid and managed care arrangements.
• Policies and administrative practices among community child welfare providers to measure their performance, evaluate outcomes, and apply sound continuous quality improvement practices.
• Policies and administrative practices that promote the health and stability of the community-based human services sector.