The House began their debate on a package of four of the twelve appropriations bills on Wednesday. At the same time the Senate was signaling difficulty in starting their process as negotiations between Republican leaders and the White House seemed to slow down. The House bundled four bills together after taking the Legislative Branch bill
On Tuesday, June 11, more than 100 children and youth organizations, including CWLA, released a letter to the Administration demanding they maintain educational and recreational programming for minors in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) facilities. The Trump Administration announced it had decided to suspend educational and recreational services for unaccompanied migrant children and youth in
Thursday, June 13, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) – along with fifteen other original cosponsors – introduced the Senate Every Child Deserves a Family Act (S 1791/HR3114). It is identical to the bill introduced by Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Jenniffer GonzálezColón (R-PR) last week. This legislation prohibits organizations receiving federal funding from discriminating against children
On Wednesday, June 5, Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) and Congresswoman Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR) introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDF). The legislation prohibits discrimination against children, youth, families, and individuals on the basis of religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), and marital status in the administration and provision of child welfare
A June 6, 2019 letter from Children’s Bureau Commissioner Jerry Milner to child welfare leaders indicates some broader flexibility in funding Family First Prevention Services in the initial implementation. The key part of the letter is the last paragraph where Commissioner Milner states: “Therefore, the CB plans to issue guidance allowing a state to
On Tuesday June 4, the House of Representatives passed HR 6, the Dream and Promise Act by a vote of 237 yes votes and 187 nays. The vote totals included all Democrats and 7 Republicans. The legislation was voted out of committee on May 22 shortly before the Memorial Day break. It includes protection
As Congress returned on Monday, June 3, one of their first actions was to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant until the end of this fiscal year. The vote was not without opposition with 357 yes votes to 55 no votes (all Republicans).The extension which now has to go to the
The House will begin to pass the first of the 12 appropriations bill this week. To speed up the process House Leadership has decided to combine 5 of the 12 FY 2020 bills into one package for debate and vote. The creation of the “mini-bus” will package the Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, Energy-Water, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign
As a partnering member of the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, CWLA joins child advocates dedicated to ending child poverty, stands opposed to a recent proposal being explored by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to enact a new poverty calculation that would underestimate the number of children living in poverty and result in
While there is much debate in the child welfare world regarding the fate of expiring waivers for approximately half the states, a more significant source of state flexibility continues to be under assault in the Administrations’ budget: the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). While representatives of the administration tout their current budget proposal that would