On May 24th, the House Republicans passed a resolution to overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan that would give up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness to borrowers in a 218-203 vote, largely along party lines. The proposal, which is also currently being considered by the Supreme Court, is estimated to cost around $400 billion.
As of this weekend no deal has been reached on raising the debt ceiling, despite promising reports earlier in the week that negotiations were going well. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Biden met on Tuesday to continue discussions, and top negotiators for each of them continued meeting throughout the week. On
The Administration for Children and Families released a new 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Prevention Services Evaluation Partnerships: Building Evidence for Mental Health, Substance Use, In-home Parent Skill-based, and Kinship Navigator Programs and Services. The three-year grants will support evaluations of “programs and services intended to provide enhanced support to children and families,
Each week we draw closer to reaching the debt limit, which Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has estimated will happen on or about June 1, 2023, just a few weeks from now. On May 9th, President Biden met with Congressional leadership in both the House and the Senate to begin discussing a path forward,
The Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 ended on May 11th, 2023. Many of the health policies were changed or extended in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023 last December, allowing for more gradual transitions. One item decided in the CAA omnibus was that Medicaid and CHIP redeterminations could begin on April 1st, 2023,
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced on May 1 that the nation could hit its existing debt ceiling as soon as June 1, 2023, mere weeks away and sooner than had previously been expected. The Treasury is currently using "extraordinary measures" to continue paying the country's debt. Following this announcement, President Biden invited Congressional
The Children's Bureau's National Foster Care Month campaign recognizes the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families. This year’s theme, “Strengthening Minds. Uplifting Families.” highlights the need to take a holistic and culturally responsive approach to supporting the mental health needs of those involved with
On April 28th, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2021 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This survey is the largest public health surveillance system in the United States, monitoring a broad range of health-related behaviors among high school students. The 2021 surveys were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and
On Friday, April 14th, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance on the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) regarding youth who are self-supporting or at risk of homelessness. SchoolHouse Connection lauded the new guidance as a positive change and called on those assisting youth experiencing homelessness to review the guidance to
CWLA submitted a public comment in the Federal Register in support of the proposed rule that would allow Title IV-E agencies to adopt separate licensing requirements for kinship family caregivers. "The proposed changes will remove barriers for children to be cared for by their relatives and kin and will decrease burdens on the child welfare