GAO Issues Report On 8 States And Residential Care
On November 9, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report they had provided to the Senate Finance committee in October. The report: HHS Could Do More to Support States’ Efforts to Keep Children
Reconciliation Bill To Repeal ACA, Planned Parenthood Slows Down
The Senate is struggling to move a reconciliation bill that would repeal parts of the ACA and cut-off federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Last month the House of Representatives passed a reconciliation measure based on
Kane Introduces Housing-Child Welfare Bill
On November 17, Senator Tom Kane (D-VA) introduced S 2289, the Family Unification, Preservation and Modernization Act, a bill that would extend the Family Unification Program or “FUP.” The 1990, Department of Housing and Urban
Final Welfare Hearing This Year
On Tuesday, November 17, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held the last of a series of hearings on welfare and human services funding programs with a focus on how other
Conferees One Step Closer On ESEA Reauthorization
Lawmakers last Thursday took a significant step toward approving a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) when a Conference Committee made up of Senate HELP Committee members and more than a sampling
NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
November is National Adoption Month and last week the President issued a proclamation saying in part,
“All young people deserve a safe place to live, and with each passing year, more children know the warmth
Congress Passes Budget and Debt Deal
Shortly after Republicans approved Ryan as the Speaker, the House approved the negotiated budget deal by a vote of 266 to 167 with 187 Democrats and 79 Republicans supporting it. It was immediately sent over
Appropriations and Other Clean Up Issues Left
The Appropriations Committees are now working on a legislative omnibus spending bill for this year with new subcommittee allocations, known as 302(b)s. Policy riders could come up during this process. While this set higher caps
New Report Show Progress on Child Care
The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has released their annual 2015 State Child Care Assistance Report that reviews state child care services and policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This
Office of Adolescent Health Provides New Resource Book
Building on earlier announcements about the “TAG,” Think, Act ,Grow, HHS’s Office of Adolescent Health is continuing their efforts regarding a national call to action to improve the health and healthy development of America’s 42
Votes On Ryan, Debt Ceiling Likely This Week
The Republican House Caucus is expected to vote on the selection of the next Speaker of the House on Wednesday with Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WS) the likely winner. Shortly after that they will be confronted
New York City Adoption Forum Discussion Broken Adoptions
On Friday, September 23, New York City was the setting for an adoption symposium called “Broken Adoption Beyond Permanency: Challenges for Foster Youth.” The one-day session sponsored by the Children’s Law Center focused on strategies
Expanded ACE s Tool Discussed On The Hill
On October 21 the National Crittenton Foundation sponsored a briefing, Beyond ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences). The focus of the briefing was on the use of the ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experience evaluation tool. Ongoing research
New Adoption-Kinship Incentives Show 25 State Winners
More complete data released by HHS in the awarding of the adoption and kinship incentives for the Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments Program shows that the new structure and new rate formula benefited
HHS Releases New Adoption-Kinship Incentives, Funding Running Short
Last week HHS awarded the annual adoption incentives now renamed the Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments Program. The awards cover adoptions and kinship placements that took place in federal fiscal year 2014 (FY ’14)
Debt Ceiling Closer, No Action in House Leadership Race
The date of November 3 as the point in which we will reach the debt ceiling was confirmed last week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The confirmation refutes some criticism that the Administration was
Pinwheels Planted To Prevent Child Abuse
As a way to highlight the need to prevent child abuse and child maltreatment from taking place, Prevent Child Abuse America held an event on the Washington National Mall last Tuesday, October 13. Led
House Uncertainly Raises Potential Crisis Points
With a second surprise announcement about the House leadership in less than a month (Boehner retires, McCarthy pulls out of race) the Congress may be heading for a real crisis. Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had
CWLA Re-States Support For TFC Bill
Last week CWLA sent a letter to members of the Senate Finance Committee reminding Senate Finance Committee members to include The Family-Based Foster Care Services Act: HR.835/S.429 in future child welfare reform legislation.
Group Examines Connecting Research and Child Welfare Practice
On Monday, October 5 the American Youth Policy Forum sponsored a briefing that focused on how state and local child welfare programs address the challenge of converting research to inform policy and practice decisions in
Bass Bill Mirrors Senate Assuring Medicaid For Former Foster Youth
On October 5, Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) introduced along with Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), HR 3641 the “Health Insurance for Former Foster Youth Act of2015.” The bill mirrors Senate legislation, S 1852, by Senator Bob
CWLA Goes To Cuba
The Child Welfare League of America led by President and CEO of CWLA Christine James-Brown brought a delegation of child welfare agencies to Cuba to exchange information and approaches regarding child and family well-being. “We
FY 2016 Funding Provided Through December11, Debt Ceiling Next Up
Congress approved a continuing resolution (CR/ H.R. 719) last week with relative ease and now they need to raise the debt ceiling by November 5. On Wednesday the Senate approved a short term CR by
What Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill Look Like Under Caps
In June the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passed FY 2016 bills under the current spending caps.
The House bill avoided some of the controversial cuts of the recent past but not all. It de-funds programs
House Works on Reconciliation Legislation
Last week the House Ways and Means committee began the process of creating a reconciliation bill. The reconciliation measure was authorized or permitted as a result of the last budget resolution. The legislation being crafted