WHITE HOUSE: Message to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism

NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE

Issued on: September 19, 2019

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date.  In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism declared in Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, is to continue in effect beyond September 23, 2019.

The crisis constituted by the grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, including the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in New York and Pennsylvania and against the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on United States nationals or the United States that led to the declaration of a national emergency on September 23, 2001, has not been resolved.  This crisis continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.  For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13224 with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 19, 2019.

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WHITE HOUSE: Text of a Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism

NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE

 Issued on: September 19, 2019

On September 23, 2001, by Executive Order 13224, the President declared a national emergency with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, including the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in New York and Pennsylvania and against the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks against United States nationals or the United States.

The actions of persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.  For this reason, the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 23, 2019.  Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism declared in Executive Order 13224.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 19, 2019.

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Nancy Has Replaced Conyers' Name With "Judiciary" - DOJ Tells Judiciary Jolly Jerry, "Nope"

Instead of her having to #sayhisname enumerating Conyers' legislative milestones, she has replaced his name with "Judiciary".

This is about Voting Rights and these "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) have absolutely no idea.

Oh, this is getting good....

#sayhisname

Judiciary Jolly Jerry has been busy, busy, busy not to #sayhisname.

Chairman Nadler Rejects DOJ Demand that House Cancel Contempt Vote Before Resuming Negotiations

"I am going to have to #sayhisname".

Washington, D.C. –Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent the following response, below, to Attorney General William Barr regarding the Department of Justice demanding that the U.S. House of Representatives cancel a contempt vote against Attorney General Barr for his failure to comply with a subpoena for the full, unredacted Mueller report and underlying materials.

U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Nadler Response To AG Barr on DOJ Demanding Contempt Vote Cancellation 6.4.20... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

On May 24th, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter, below, to Attorney General Barr and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone expressing an eagerness to engage in accommodation discussions. Earlier today, the Department of Justice wrote to Chairman Nadler with a demand for the contempt vote to be cancelled before resuming any accommodation discussions with the Committee.

U.S. House Judiciary Letter To AG Barr and White House Counsel Cipollone on contempt Vote 5.24.2019 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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State Department Drops Huma Abedine and Hillary Clinton Redacted Emails

The U.S. State Department has release the next drops of emails of Huma Abedine and Hillary Clinton.

Of course, I went straight for the meat and on my first keyword search, "adoption" the result was
communication initiated by Senator Mary Landrieu on American families who were blocked from Russian adoptions based upon the Magnitsky Act, a ban on Russian adoptions.

What is interesting is the congressional and White House communications seem to transpire between staffers, and not the elected office seat holders, themselves.

I will even go so far to say some of the congressional signatures are forged by Chiefs of Staff.

It should definitely be noted that John Conyers was not involved in this particular congressional-executive communication process, which should raise a few eyebrows.

The Russian adoptoin ban was not just about Magnitsky, it was about human trafficking and land.

More to come or you can just search for yourself.

Russian Adoption Ban Communications Between Mary Landrieu, State Department & White House 2013 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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CONYERS: Top Judiciary Democrats Warn Trump Not To Block Comey Testimony

DEMS TO WHITE HOUSE: ASSERTING PRIVILEGE TO BLOCK COMEY IS BASELESS, AND FURTHER PROOF OF OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

Washington, D.C. – In several public appearances today, White House spokesmen have refused to rule out the possibility that President Trump will invoke executive privilege in an attempt to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress.  House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr., together with the Democratic leadership of the House Committee on the Judiciary, wrote to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, below, to remind him “that any such assertion of privilege is almost certainly baseless.” 

The letter is signed by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI); House Judiciary Subcommittee Ranking Members Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), David N. Cicilline (D-RI); and House Judiciary Committee Vice Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD).

U.S. House Judiciary Democrats Notice Of Executive Privilege In FBI Director James Comey Testimony Letter 6... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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CONYERS & CUMMINGS Respond to Reports that President Trump Revealed Highly Classified Info to Russians

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2017) – Reps. John Conyers, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Judiciary, and Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued the following statement in response to press reports that President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats:

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

"We need to be clear, we do not know if these allegations are true or false, but if -- IF -- these allegations are true, President Trump may have just disclosed top secret information to the Russians and possibly jeopardized an intelligence source in the process.  This is the same meeting in which Russian officials laughed with the President in front of Russian photographers inside the Oval Office while members of the American press were excluded.  Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives need a briefing from the National Security Adviser and the directors of our nation’s intelligence agencies to get to the bottom of these allegations, and if there are audio recordings of this meeting, Congress needs to obtain them immediately. After an unprecedented week in which many thought it would be impossible for President Trump to be any more irresponsible, he now may have sunk to a dangerous new low.”

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CONYERS: Top House Dems To White House: We Need 'Tapes'& All Communication Between Trump & Comey

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers Jr.

Washington, D.C.—Today, after President Donald Trump tweeted “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Rep. John Conyers, Jr., the Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter, below, to White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn II to request copies of all recordings in possession of the White House regarding this matter.

In their letter, the Members also requested, “…all documents, memoranda, analyses, emails, and other communications relating to the President’s decision to dismiss Director Comey—a decision which the President declared yesterday he planned to make “regardless of [the Deputy Attorney General’s] recommendation”—and all discussions with Director Comey.

U.S. Reps Conyers & Cummings Letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn II to request copies of all record... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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House Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers on Ivanka Trump’s Overseas Business Interests

Washington, DC – Today, every Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee joined Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr., in sending letters both to White House counsel and the CEO of Ivanka Trump Collection, LLC, expressing concerns that Ivanka Trump may be using her official position for private gain.  The letter focuses on Ms. Trump’s meetings with leaders from China and Japan and the swift, subsequent approval of valuable trademarks for her company by those foreign governments. 

These letters come after the public release of new guidance from the Office of Government Ethics, confirming that Ms. Trump is considered a government employee covered by federal ethics rules, as well as new reports describing how Ms. Trump may have used her official position to promote both her new book and Trump Tower in the Philippines.

Today’s letter was signed by every Democratic member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, including: Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Karen Bass (D-CA), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL). 

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Letter to White House Legal Counsel Donald McGahn on Ivanka Trump 5.3.17 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Letter to Abigail Klem, CEO of Ivanka Trump Collection, LLC 5.3.17 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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CONYERS Statement For Judiciary Markup Of H.R. 184, "Trump-Russia Resolution"

Conyers statement starts @ 31:10

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I support this resolution of inquiry, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

It is the responsibility of this Committee to conduct oversight of the Office of the Attorney General, and to ensure the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice.

Despite protests that this resolution is somehow not yet ripe, H. Res. 184 (below) is the proper next step in exercising those responsibilities.

Since the Attorney General took office, my colleagues and I have written to the Department at least six times. 

           

We have asked for information about conflicts of interest, the Russia investigation, and reports of inappropriate contact between the White House and the FBI.  To date, we have received no response.

We have also written to you, Mr. Chairman, on two occasions, about related matters.  We have received no response there, either.

At our February markup of the Nadler resolution, both Chairman Goodlatte and Mr. Issa spoke at length about a letter they planned to send the Attorney General.  It was described as the “proper” way to conduct oversight.  We were promised an opportunity to join. 

But no letter to the Attorney General was ever sent.  Instead, the Majority wrote to the FBI, asking for a member briefing that still has not taken place.  We did not learn of the letter until we read about it in the press.

Our responsibility to this Committee requires more of us, Mr. Chairman.  H. Res. 184 is an opportunity to correct course and do our jobs.

The resolution is also a chance to answer questions about the Attorney General’s false statements before the Senate.

H. Res. 184 asks for information about the Attorney General’s meetings with Russian officials, his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his later “clarification” of that testimony. 

This information is critical to understanding why Attorney General Sessions twice gave false testimony, and whether his attempt to correct that false testimony is adequate.

I find it hard to believe that Attorney General Sessions—at the time, a sitting senator, and an active member of the Trump campaign—was unaware of reports about the campaign’s connections to the Russian government until he was asked about it in the committee room.

I find it equally hard to understand why Attorney General Sessions, in “correcting” his testimony, disclosed two meetings with the Russian ambassador—but not to a third that is clearly documented in the public record.

Again, it is this Committee’s responsibility to ask these questions.  We cannot and should not turn a blind eye to false testimony and an obviously incomplete record. 

H. Res. 184 is the right vehicle to begin that inquiry here in our Committee.

Finally, this resolution helps us address a larger problem—one that seems to sweep in more people in the President’s orbit every day.

Why have so many of these men—each of them a part of the Trump campaign—met with the Russian government?

And, perhaps more importantly, why have so many of these men attempted to hide those meetings from the public? 

To a character, it seems, they have only come clean when the media has exposed their deception.

I am deeply disturbed by this pattern, and what it might mean for our country.

In my time on this Committee, Mr. Chairman, I have come to understand that certain values transcend party.     

           

These include: faith in democracy, love of country, and respect for the republican form of government guaranteed to us by our Constitution.

These values are under attack—not just here, but around the world—by a regime that believes only that might makes right.

We know that the government of Russia undermined our election.  We know that they want to undermine the elections of our allies. 

And, given what we know, it is incumbent on us to do something about it. 

Here is our chance to begin that work in earnest.

I thank Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Lieu for introducing this resolution.

I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 184, and I yield back.

H.R. 184 Inquiry Requesting President and Attorney General To Turn Over Documents To Congress on Russian Co... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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All House Judiciary Democrats Call For DOJ To Issue Statement Refuting Trump Wiretapping Claim

Democrats Also Call On White House & DOJ To Release Information On White House & DOJ Communications

Washington, D.C. – Today, all House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana J. Boente, asking the Department of Justice to address the accuracy of assertions made by President Trump accusing President Obama of wiretapping his phones prior to the election—in the wake of widespread reports that FBI Director Comey had asked DOJ to reject such claims.  Judiciary Democrats also asked the Department to provide information about possibly improper contacts between the White House and DOJ concerning efforts by the Russian government to unlawfully influence the U.S. presidential election in favor of Mr. Trump.  A similar letter has been sent to White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Today, it was reported that Director Comey was “incredulous” at the President’s claim.  We call on the White House Counsel to tell us about their contact with DOJ and we ask the Acting Deputy Attorney General to set the record straight about the facts of any inquiry,” said Ranking Member Conyers.   “Given Attorney General Sessions’s recent decision to recuse himself from the Russian influence investigation, we have directed the letter to the Acting Deputy Attorney General.  It would be highly inappropriate to say the least if the Attorney General was involved in any decision to not respond to the FBI Director’s request. President Trump’s irresponsible and baseless tweet over the weekend charging that President Obama wire-tapped Trump have led to troubling reports of efforts by the White House Counsel to contact the Department of Justice about investigations and reported requests by the FBI Director that the Justice Department refute Trump’s assertion.”  

Both letters were signed by every Democratic member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, including: Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Karen Bass (D-CA), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL). 

U.S. House Judiary Democrats Letter to Acting Deputy Attorney General Boente 3-6-17 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Judiciary Democrats To Call for Release of Information on White House & DOJ Communication

Tomorrow, House Judiciary Committee Democrats will send a letter to White House Counsel Donald McGhan, asking him to provide information about contacts between the White House and the Department of Justice.  Judiciary Democrats will also send a similar letter to FBI Director James Comey.

Current signers include: Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD).

Full text of the letter is below. The text of the letter is for immediate release.

A signed copy of the letter along with a complete list of Members who signed on, will be released tomorrow.

Judiciary Democrats Letter for Release of Information on White House & DOJ Communication (3.5.17) by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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CONYERS: The White House Is Not Permitted To Pressure The FBI In This Manner

Ranking Member reacts to reports that Trump Team asked FBI to deny Russia ties

Washington, DC – This evening, CNN reports that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to “knock down” media reports about communications between the Russian government and associates of President Trump.  If these reports are accurate, the White House may have violated Department of Justice policies established in 2007 and 2009 to limit direct communications about pending investigations between the White House and the FBI.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) today issued the following statement in response:

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Tonight’s report should concern all Americans, regardless of party.

“The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the President and his advisors.  The Bush and Obama Administrations took steps to limit this sort of back channel communication for the express purpose of protecting the integrity of the Department of Justice and the FBI. This is deeply troubling because of the inappropriate attempt to influence the FBI and because it may reveal a broader effort by the Trump White House to cover up malfeasance during the campaign.  

“A spokesman for the Department suggests that Attorney General Sessions is ‘reviewing’ these guidelines.  The policy seems clear cut to me.  I once again call on the Attorney General to recuse himself from any investigation into the connections between the Trump campaign and the government of Vladimir Putin.  The need for an independent, bipartisan investigation into these matters has never been more clear.

“Tomorrow, the Trump Administration will almost certainly attempt to deflect criticism by casting doubt on the officials who brought these communications to the attention of the media.  Again, I ask the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to ensure that whistleblowers within the Department are protected from any kind of retaliation.

“It is past time for House Republicans to engage on this issue.  The Trump team has clear ties to the Russian government—and we ignore those ties at our own peril.”

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White House Takes A Data Approach To Re-Do Foster Care

The White House is attempting to innovate foster care by using a data approach.

For the first time in more than 25 years, foster care is going high tech to redesign itself to deliver child welfare services.

This redesign includes everything from apps for age out youth to find services, to open systems to generate databases.

Below are highlights I have captured.

• These databases are more than the traditional SACWIS; they are to create the ability to track each child throughout the system, at any time.

• Streamlining technology will greatly assist in the identification of questionable billing practices.
• Analytics also allows for oversight in questionable billing practices.
• My words of warning to this consortia:  "Beware of those who wish to use data to build models to predict "abuse and neglect".
• The Administration is focusing on public ~ private partnerships for external funding, or rather, social impact bonds.
• There are counter groups that wish to capture and use data to predict the behavior of abuse and neglect, which includes predictions of poverty, mental illness, and other situations of need.
• There was little mentioned on the civil rights component in foster care for the youth and the original parents but there were concerns to revisit legal protections for agencies and its contractual arms and access to information.
• Technology increases quality and delivery of services.  I will even go so far to say technology will prevent fraud, waste and abuse in child welfare services.

The intention is to use Open Source software instead of reinventing the wheel by developing software from scratch.

Privacy issues of data are still on the table.

#HackFosterCare  and #WHFosterYouth are the hashtags of the summit.



Here is Day 2 of the #HackFosterCare  and #WHFosterYouth Hackathon.

If you use the hashtags, the White House and its stakeholders will be able to pick up your input on social media.

I

The second session addressed risks, going all the way back to the original design of child welfare, from targeting poor and minorities, to the Indian child removals and assimilation.

I wonder if there will be a formal apology issued like was done in Australia and Canada on Native child removals.

The U.S. is unique as it did not just remove to assimilate Native children, it did the same with generations of slaves, immigrants and poor, single mothers.

What is also interesting is that pre-emptive preparation is commencing in the administration to transition to the next Commander-in-Chief by setting the national agenda for child welfare reform.

The only problem I have with this gathering is that I did not hear my name, but then again, the movement is young and I am still on a mission...

For those of you who do not have the time, nor curiosity to sit through these two White House videos, here is a snapshot of the Hackathon.

A ‘Mind Blowing’ Experience at the White House Foster Care Hackathon

Last week, during a reception at a sleek house off of Washington D.C.’s Embassy Row, I found myself in the kitchen talking with Winnie Wechsler.

Wechsler, who runs the Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, which funds a slew of child welfare related non-profits including the one I run, was amped up. For months she has been working with other charitable foundations, technologists, folks from the Obama Administration’s child welfare agency and a young man named Sixto Cancel to get the ensuing two-day White House Foster Care Hackathon off the ground.

“It’s going to blow your mind,” she told me.

Afflicted with a journalist’s skepticism, and having seen waves of foster care initiatives flame and fizzle over the years, I reserved my judgement.

I will not yet disclose whether my mind was indeed “blown,” but I think it is important to share ­– for those who were not there – what I took away as some of the most significant moments.

Big Data

About fifty people crammed into a panel session on “Big Data.” As we have reported in this publication on numerous occasions, the field of child welfare is grappling with the huge moral question of whether or not to use data analytics to help predict the likelihood that certain children will becomes victims of abuse.

About 45 minutes into the panel, moderator DJ Patil, who is the chief data scientist for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, asked Gladys Carrión, the commissioner of New York City’s vast child welfare administration, what she thought of using predictive analytics in her agency.

“It scares the hell out of me,” Carrión said, inciting half nervous chuckles in the room.

“What specifically scares you?” Patil asked.

“I think about how we are impacting and infringing on people’s civil liberties,” Carrión said. She added that she runs a system “that exclusively serves black and brown children and families… I am concerned about widening the net under the guise that we are going to help them. How can we use these tools to keep children and families in communities together?”

“I am concerned about stigmatizing families,” she went on. “I don’t think this is the Holy Grail, but I do think it is an effective tool. So how do I mitigate that?”

Towards the end of the session, Patil said that President Obama is “extremely focused” on the expansion of predictive analytics into human services.

“How do we have a richer dialogue about these things?” Patil asked. “What is that dialogue about the pros and cons? If you are building [these tools], how to create fairness by design?”

While these questions remained unanswered, the moment was important for two reasons.

First was the level at which the dialogue was happening. You had a relatively high level Obama official talking to the chief of one of the nation’s largest child welfare systems alongside a panel of leading researchers in the space, all witnessed by a crowd including Rafael López, the head of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), which oversees the nation’s tapestry of public child welfare agencies.

The second was the candor of Carrión’s remarks, and the way she matched fear and ambivalence with an ability to remain open-minded. I will get back to this, but in this particular arena, there is a willingness at the highest levels to experiment with technologies that are both wildly promising and scary as hell.

Big Data Panel during day 2 of the Foster Care Hackathon.

A New Kind of Foster Care Leader

I mentioned him higher up, we profiled him last week, and as the senior editor of this publication is quick to point out: The Chronicle of Social Change has dedicated a ribbon of digital ink to the guy already. But that is not likely to change. Sixto Cancel, the founder of Think Of Us, and one of the chief organizers of the May 27 and 28 hackathon, is having a moment.

Throughout the two-day event Cancel was ceaselessly managing his team of young and dedicated employees, chatting into the ear of Molly Dillon, his collaborator on the White House Domestic Policy Council, and working the room in a way that belied a potential for homegrown leadership that this field has yet to see.

For years now, foster youth have been organizing to advocate for their rights through state-sponsored “youth advocacy boards” and non-profits like California Youth Connection, which can be giantly effective in changing laws for kids in the system.

It was through one of these types of organizations that I first met Cancel in Bridgeport, Conn., back in 2010. He was wearing a suit while his peers were in sweats. He spent his time talking to the adults, me included. I was impressed, and a year later invited him to join a panel on foster care and education at Harvard Law School. He killed.

Over the years, foster youth led advocacy efforts have helped launch great leaders. The most prominent among them is Jennifer Rodriguez who now leads the Youth Law Center out of San Francisco and recently served on the White House Commission to End Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities.

Not to diminish Rodriguez’s due shine whatsoever, but Cancel is a different kind of former foster youth leader. He is building his vision of a new child welfare system outside of the support systems that have hitherto carried the voice of so many foster youth. This is a critical point of embarkation. The foster youth led advocacy world has largely been built on a cast of founders, executive directors and administrators who ­never experienced foster care. Cancel is doing it – with help – on his own.

In the packed auditorium of the Eisenhower Building where the most ceremonial moments of the hackathon took place, the 24-year-old took the stage.

In unambiguous language, he called out the elephant in the foster youth advocacy room. He said that young people should not focus on the agenda of the agencies that give them a platform, but rather on taking advantage of those platforms to deliver messages that best serve other foster youth.

“Be unapologetic,” Cancel said. “Your primary mission is to serve our own brothers and sisters who have been in foster care.”

He ended his remarks by evoking an old adage: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

The young man is leading.

CREDIT: Think of Us, Sixto Cancel, Molly Dillon and hackathon participants mid-hack.

Commitments

Towards the end of the hackathon, things started to get a little crazy when Commissioner López of ACYF asked people to stand and share “commitments.”

Folks from the Silicon Valley Children’s Fund promised to produce a foster care hackathon in October with some of the biggest leaders in the valley ­– to which a former foster youth turned CEO named Marquis Cabrerra said he would chip in $10,000 of his own money.

Carrión of New York’s Administration for Children’s Services promised to hold a hackathon there. ACYF’s López said he would partner.

Jon Bradford, the founder of a start-up incubation firm called CoLab, promised to build out the application his team had made the night before and host it into eternity.

Kevin “Scooter” Ward of the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency said that he would work with Cancel to launch his Unify platform in D.C. Unify helps transition-age youth set goals and interface with important adults in their lives.

Jenny Wood, who used to work for Congressmember Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and now works at ACYF, said the agency would strengthen language ensuring foster youth had access to Medicaid after aging out, and that it would clear up guidance so that information sharing is easier among the systems that foster youth touch.

And so it went, a bonanza of promises to continue the work.

Back to that Question of Blown Minds

CREDIT: Think of Us, Commissioner Lopez during the Hackathon

It was Friday, just before the long Memorial Day weekend, yet Commissioner López was hustling to another meeting just after the hackathon ended. I tagged along.

I asked him how he thought it all went.

“Totally energized,” he replied. “I think that the vibe in the room both yesterday and all night was extraordinary.”

Then, as we moved briskly through the black-and-white-tiled corridors of the massive Eisenhower Building, I came back to a question that I think is at the heart of child welfare’s future. I asked him to react to Commissioner Carrión’s “scared as hell,” comment.

“I think that to ignore a world that now includes conversations around data analytics and predictive analytics and big data is to ignore progress in the world, but we need to be really careful and thoughtful about that. So that is ultimately what should drive this work because we are dealing with human beings. You know, no tool, no technological tool, no system, can replace the human head, heart and mind.”

“And I think what we often do in this space is bifurcate it from ‘do you want big data and predictive analytics or not?’ And I think that that is a false choice. We have to be much more thoughtful in this space about being creative and innovative and having hard conversations about things like privacy and data sharing et cetera. But it is all possible if we are willing to engage in the conversation.”

And with that, we passed through a door, and I found myself under the hot sun looking straight over to the White House. Commissioner López said goodbye and walked off.

I stood there for a second, and whom should I see behind me?

Winnie Wechsler.

Guess what I told her.

Yes, Ms. Wechsler, my mind was blown.

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Bachmann would foster children as president

For the most part, children who are "at-risk" are recognized as being impoverished.  So, according to Michele Bachmann, she would use the White House as a government subsidized entitlement program?

I can see it now, the White House filled with the kids snatched and thrown into foster care because their parents are undocumented immigrants/

Gotta love Bachmann (canned laughter).

Bachmann would foster children as president

Bachmann would foster children as president

In an interview with CBS News Radio, Michele Bachmann said she would continue to raise foster children in the White House. Bachmann and her husband say they have raised over 20 foster children. (Nov. 22) (CBS News)



Note: Realistically, how would a US President have time to drive foster kids to all of their appointments, take them to visits, make it to court dates and all of the other wonderful things the foster parents bitch about?

LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/#ixzz1enOeD853

White House Launches Campaign To End Fraud, Waste and Abuse

Isn't this lovely.  The White House wants to root out fraud, waste and abuse.  Vice President Joe Biden is now calling himself "Sheriff Joe".

Well, I call myself "The Whistleblower Goddess" and I say everyone, report the billions in fraud waste and abuse of Medicaid in child welfare.


It's time to tell the public.

	Good morning, Did you know that the government spends millions to maintain buildings that have sat vacant for years? Or that your tax dollars pay to needlessly ship copies of the Federal Register to thousands of government offices across the country even though the same information is available online? And I bet you didn't know that your tax dollars pay for a website dedicated to the Desert Tortoise. I'm sure it's a wonderful species, but we can't afford to have a standalone site devoted to every member of the animal kingdom. It's just one of hundreds of government websites that should be consolidated or eliminated. This kind of waste is just unacceptable. Particularly at a time when we’re facing tough decisions about reducing our deficit, it's a no-brainer to stop spending taxpayer dollars on things that benefit nobody. That’s why President Obama asked me to head up the Campaign to Cut Waste—a new effort to root out wasteful spending at every agency and department in the Federal Government. Like millions of American families, the Federal Government has to take a hard look at spending and live within its means. Most of these cuts we’re going to make are small. They won’t close our deficit or solve all of our fiscal problems. However, no amount of waste is acceptable, and these cuts will add up over time. This year alone we’ve found $33 billion in savings, but we know there’s a lot more work to be done. When we passed the Recovery Act back in 2009, President Obama insisted that we use that program to set a new standard in government transparency and accountability. And he appointed me as “Sheriff Joe” to make sure the job gets done. Now, there were a lot of naysayers back then who said that there was no way we could implement the Recovery Act without massive waste, fraud and abuse. You know what? They were wrong. Thanks to our diligence (and some help from advanced computer models and sophisticated data analysis), the Recovery Act has had an unprecedentedly low level of fraud, with less than 0.6% of all awards experiencing any waste or abuse. There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t apply these same principles and techniques to all government spending. And that’s exactly what I intend to do with the help of a new Government Accountability and Transparency Board, a group composed of independent inspectors general and high-level agency officials who will help me root out waste, fraud and abuse across the government. Helping me ensure that your tax dollars are being spent on things that matter, like investments in education, innovation and improving our infrastructure. So, folks, we’re changing the way your government does business (and spends your hard-earned tax dollars), and I think you’re going to like the results. Sincerely, Vice President Joe Biden P.S. If you’re interested in keeping up with our progress in hunting down wasteful spending, you can sign up for regular email updates.