On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, the House “Problem Solvers Caucus,” a collection of House Democrats and Republicans, released their compromise COVID-19 relief framework. The framework proposes a bill that would total approximately $1.5 trillion with the potential to go higher (or lower) depending on where the economy goes in the next months. Perhaps most significantly, the
On Wednesday, September 16, 2020, several publications printed reports of immigrant detainee abuse at Homeland Security facilities including the possibility of unapproved hysterectomies on women being held at the facility. The reports and recent court actions highlight the difficulty many immigrant families are facing during the pandemic. Immigrants with proper documentation and status are being
On Monday, September 14, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled by a 2-1 margin in favor of the Trump Administration to strip legal immigration status from some 400,000 people, rendering them deportable if they do not voluntarily leave the country. The ruling deals specifically with Temporary Protected Status
On Thursday, September 10, 2020, the Senate voted 52 to 47 on a slimmed-down coronavirus relief package that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had released earlier in the week. The Senate requires at least 60 votes to clear the filibuster hurdle but the vote fell short. The legislation, formally a substitute to S.178 (a previous bill dealing
While putting a relief package aside, both sides, through the chief negotiators of Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have agreed there will not be a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends of September 30, 2020. Pelosi and Mnuchin have said they would agree to a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) that would include
Last month, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats released a report led by Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, the late John Lewis (D-GA) on the issue of discrimination in placement decisions for foster care and adoption. The
August 31, 2020 The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released thirteen (13) more Title IV-E Prevention Services programs and services ratings for the Title IV-E Prevention Services in accordance with the Family First Prevention Services Act. These practices include mental health services, substance abuse prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-based programs.
The recently released AFCARS, Report Number 27, indicates that foster care numbers decreased in FY 2019. The report lists 423,997 children in foster care at the end of the federal fiscal year 2019 (September 30, 2019) compared to 435,031 for the same point in 2018. The report may be adjusted in the next few months, but
On Thursday, June 4, 2020, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced a companion to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) the Child Care is Essential Act that would provide $50 billion in child care funding as part of the fifth or next COVID-19 bill. They are part of various legislative efforts to address the serious long-term challenges facing the country’s
In the Families First COVID-19 emergency supplemental bill (COVID-19 bill # 2), Congress acted swiftly to provide a much-needed 6.2 percentage increase in the FMAP. The FMAP is the match level of funds the federal government provides to Medicaid. Usually the federal government provides a match from 50 percent to 80 percent depending on the