Congress must pass legislation that addresses barriers to mental health care for youth and their families, including maternal mental health care, services and prevention for children and adolescents, Medicaid reform, and bolstering the workforce. Maternal mental health: postpartum depression affects up to 15% of women, and the negative short-and long-term effects on child development are
Title IV-B of the Social Security Act contains a $20 million allotment for child welfare workforce development, with a particular focus on activities designed to increase retention, recruitment, and training of caseworkers to improve monthly visits with families. At a time when caseworker turnover and vacancies are reaching crisis levels, it is necessary to expand
A new Child Trends brief describes the harm inflicted upon gender-diverse children and youth when policies deny them access to gender-affirming care and supportive environments. Gender-affirming care provides developmentally appropriate supports to gender-diverse children and youth. When transgender children and youth feel that their identities are supported, they experience greater life satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms,
On April 11, 2022, KHOU in Texas published an article detailing new ramifications of Governor Greg Abbotts’ directive that the Department of Family and Protective Services investigate parents of transgender children: employee resignations. “More than half a dozen child abuse investigators told The Texas Tribune that they either have resigned or are actively job-hunting as
The overdose death rate among U.S. adolescents nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020 — a climb that continued into 2021, a new study in JAMA shows. Researchers determined that it’s not a surge of 14- to 18-year-olds using drugs - survey data actually indicate that fewer teens experimented with drugs during the pandemic. Rather, a
On April 12th, 2022, the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group and GRACE & End Child Poverty California campaign hosted a webinar entitled ‘Ending Child Poverty at the Federal and State Level.’ This webinar focused on how states have promoted child welfare, as well as sharing the importance of the passage of the Child Poverty Reduction
On April 14, 2022, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a paper from Bradley Hardy of the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy explaining the importance of the Child Tax Credit as a critical economic assistance program. From the report: “An expanded, monthly, and fully refundable Child Tax Credit would yield long-term reductions
Brookings published the second wave of its comprehensive, multi-issue study of the effects of the CTC, finding that families used the CTC to cover routine expenses without reducing their employment. Families had better nutrition and were less likely to rely on alternative financial support like payday loans and selling blood plasma to pay bills.
Mathematica is conducting focus groups to explore sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection for youth in foster care and foster/adoptive parents. The study is being conducted on behalf of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and in cooperation with the Children’s Bureau. They are seeking focus group participants
Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on several important bills, including H.R. 7236, the Strengthening Kids' Mental Health Now Act. If enacted, H.R. 7236 would expand the availability of mental, emotional, and behavioral health services under the Medicaid program. This bipartisan legislation would bolster the infrastructure for