Steven Olender Email & Phone Number

Washington, DC, US

Washington, DC, US

• Lead advisor on policy analysis and strategic advocacy for a startup nonprofit focused on child welfare transformation.Developed and co-authored "Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval: Recommended Standards of National.
• Comprehensive bipartisan title IV-B reauthorization legislation that expands funding for upstreamfamily support and requires states to develop child welfare plans with lived experts;
• Senate Finance Committee investigation revealing systemic abuse in residential treatment facilities,driving increased oversight and investment in community-based alternatives; and
• Regulation ensuring LGBTQI+ youth are safe from abuse with caregivers prepared to meet their needs.Head author for all written policy documents, including Congressional testimony, regulatory comments, memos, and.

Technical expert on federal child welfare and kinship policy, supporting states, territories, and Tribal government agencies, kinship navigator programs, and nonprofit direct service providers. Focused on supporting title IV-E agencies with implementation of new flexibilities related to kin-specific licensing and approval standards.Developing resources to.

Washington, DC, US

• Trusted subject matter expert and policy analyst supporting the capacity of the child welfare field to align around strategic advocacy prioritiesLed the Child Welfare and Mental Health Coalition, an informal working.
• The Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act, which provided more than $600 million in COVID relief and flexibilities for the child welfare system; and
• The Family First Transition Act, which delivered $500 million to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act and gave funding certainty for states as they transitioned away from title IV-E waivers.Advised senior.
• Proposals in President Biden’s FY23-25 budgets to reshape to title IV-E reimbursement rates; and
• Issuance of "Separate Licensing or Approval Standards for Relative or Kinship Foster Family Homes" a landmark regulation estimated to unlock $3 billion in federal funds for kinship care over 10 years.Developed and.

Strategic advisor to Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on her signature education effort, Cradle to K Baton Rouge to help the city reach child development and school readiness goals. Analyzed citywide whole-family early childhood pilot and proposed reforms to align the program with social-emotional and cognitive development research, leading to a.

Austin, Texas, US

Distilled complex child welfare concepts for written and oral communication to a broad range of audiences. Redesigned internal infrastructure to allow for efficient, self-directed, case support, in order to improve the quality of volunteer casework and streamline supervisors’ workload, in collaboration with staff and volunteers.

Austin, Texas, US

Devised and implemented strategic relationship-building effort, including a restructuring of corporate fundraising, in-kind donation, and group volunteer programs, to strengthen the domestic violence shelter’s capacity to meet the self-identified needs of nearly 900 survivors each year.

Austin, Texas, US

Conducted, analyzed, and wrote the 2012 Early Care and Education Survey, a biannual report assessing the state of early childhood education across Austin, used by funders and education programs to establish future focus areas.Coordinated city-wide training initiative as part of the Middle School Matters program, an initiative providing wraparound services.

Master In Public Policy, Social And Urban Policy

Bachelor'S