Administration

HUD Expands the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative

On Tuesday, October 6, HUD’s Secretary Ben Carson issued a notice expanding the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) program to reach more youth aging out of foster care. The FYI program is an initiative of HUD that expanded and enhanced the existing Family Unification Program (FUP) to reach more youth leaving foster care. Both FUP

ACA Repeal: Why A Stand-Alone Pre-existing Condition Law Does Not Protect People

One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that part of the law that prohibits insurance companies from denying health insurance coverage because a patient has a “pre-existing condition.” A pre-existing condition could cover any number of previous illnesses, health history, or other circumstances that insurance companies, before the ACA,

CR Passes Senate

On Wednesday, September 30, 2020, the Senate gave final approval to (HR 8337) a continuing resolution or CR that will keep the government from shutting down at the start of the fiscal year. The CR provides level funding (FY 2020 funding levels) with some slight adjustments to address formulas and some program changes. The CR

House Offers Another COVID-19 Relief Bill

On Thursday, October 1, 2020, the House approved a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill representing a reduction from their $3.2 trillion passed on May 15, 2020, but higher than the general support the White House has said they would support at $1.5 trillion. The House action was against a backdrop of ongoing discussions between the House Democrats

District of Columbia Receives Family First Approval to Broadly Implement and Claim for Motivational Interviewing

Written by: Natalie Craver, Community Partnerships Administrator, District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency and Katie Rollins, Senior Policy Analyst, Chapin Hall. In September 2020, the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) received approval from the Children’s Bureau for its amended Title IV-E Prevention Plan proposing the use of Motivational Interviewing

Supreme Court Appointee Looms Large on Future of ACA

The Supreme Court, with either 8 or 9 members, has scheduled oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act for November 10, 2020. This is a Supreme Court case that could strike down the entire ACA. May 13 was the deadline to file amici briefs on the case of the State of California,

ACA Repeal: What We Told Congress

When CWLA joined hundreds of organizations in defense of the Affordable Care Act in 2017 and 2018, we explained to Congress, and our members, why the ACA is vital to any efforts to reduce the number of children coming into foster care and in preventing instances of child neglect. In a June 2017 letter to

Congress Acts on Continuing Resolution But No COVID-19

Last week, Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the House of Representatives passed (HR 8337) and sent to the Senate a continuing resolution or CR that will keep the government from shutting down at the start of the fiscal year. The Senate leadership has indicated they hope to approve the CR by Tuesday of this week, a

2019 Census Child Poverty Data and What COVID-19 Means for Kids

Earlier this week, First Focus on Children co-hosted a webinar with the Children’s Defense Fund, and the Child Poverty Action Group on the topic of the 2019 Census Data released this month on child poverty. The collection and publication of this data are incredibly useful because they capture families’ socio-economic realities with children. This acts

Supreme Court Appointee Looms Large on Future of Gender Discrimination

CWLA joined dozens of children’s groups and other advocates in filing an amicus brief in support of the City of Philadelphia in upholding their non-discrimination requirements in child placements. The case will be heard at the Supreme Court the day after the election. In 2018 a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer had determined that some

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