Congress gave final approval to a border funding bill totaling approximately $4.6 billion negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats. The final bill approved in the House by a vote of 305 to 102 included a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Many House Democrats were unhappy about the fact that, earlier in the week, a Democrats-only
The House of Representatives completed action on the Financial Services bill on Thursday. That makes 10 of 12 bills approved before the July 4th break. The remaining two include the Legislative Branch and Homeland Security. The Legislative Branch is likely to move after the break after stalling on a failed attempt to unfreeze congressional salaries
Last week the Child Welfare League of America endorsed and signed onto a national letter of support for two bills by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) that would extend protections and rights to children and families that have been separated by U.S. immigration policies. The two bills are the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for
The Constitution requires an accurate count of the nation's population-–a census--every ten years. Unfortunately, the 2010 census missed more than 10 percent of young children, about 2.2 million children, age four or younger. Unless we act, we might miss even more young children in 2020. When we miss young children in the census it has
On Thursday, June 20, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released the first ten Prevention Services Clearinghouse rated programs and services that received well-supported, supported, promising, or does not currently meet the criteria for the Title IV-E Prevention Services in accordance with the Family First Prevention Services Act. These practices include mental health services,
Immigration was heating up again last week from its slow boil to full steam on two fronts. The President created tremendous anxiety with the advocacy and certainly the immigration communities when he tweeted his desire for more raids and deportations. On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was holding a hearing on his
After a joint meeting on Wednesday, June 19 congressional leaders and the White House were no closer to an overall budget deal than they have been over the last several months. Unlike previous meetings this White House meeting included the Democrats. After the meeting was adjourned there was no deal and no consensus by participants
On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee passed a series of tax bills designed to expand current tax benefits for a number of low and middle income families and individuals. The Economic Mobility Act of 2019, among several provisions, expands the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers; expands refundability of the child
On June 5, Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) introduced HR 3114 – Every Child Deserves A Family Act and on June 13, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced S 1791, the Senate version. This legislation prohibits organizations receiving federal funding from discriminating against children and families and promotes safety, well-being, and permanency
Last week, CWLA submitted our comments on the implementation of an Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) update. The Administration had frozen the 2016 final rule that updated AFCARS data requirements. In the interim they asked for additional comments and issued an updated notice of proposed rulemaking in mid-April. The revisions eliminated