Administration

House Judiciary Committee Approves Immigration-DREAMS Package

On Wednesday, May 22, the House Judiciary “marked-up” or debated HR 6 an immigration reform bill. The legislation was split into three bills for Committee action purposes: H.R. 2820, the “Dream Act of 2019”; H.R. 2821, the “American Promise Act of 2019”; and H.R. 549, the “Venezuela TPS Act of 2019”. In March the DREAM

HHS releases the Handbook of Standards and Procedures for IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse

On Friday, April 26, HHS released the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse Handbook of Standards and Procedures, which includes new information related to how the new Title IV-E prevention services allowable under Family First will work. The IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse ratings will be applied to programs and services as meeting the well-supported, supported, or

House Appropriations Update

Last week, the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor H) fiscal year 2020 draft funding bill, the largest non-defense appropriations bill for Congress, advanced to the full committee for consideration. The total for non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending is $189.8 billion, an increase of $11.7 billion over the

Administration Releases Details of Budget

  Congress was out of town last week, but the Administration did send up their detailed recommendations on their proposed 2020 budget. The CWLA budget summary can be found here with the budget chart found here. Behind the broad details of spending cuts of approximately 10 percent for the non-Defense Department discretionary (annually appropriated) funding,

The Administration Proposes Foster Care Waiver Option

The latest details on the Administration’s budget includes a continuation of last year’s optional waiver that would convert Title IV-E foster care into a block grant on a state by state basis. The goal is that converting foster care funds into a fixed five-year block grant would allow states to spend money on primary prevention

Davis and Lewis Ask for HHS Response on South Carolina Placement Waiver

Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) and Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) sent a letter to two the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials regarding an HHS waiver that exempts organizations from federal foster care religious non-discrimination rules under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Budget Repeats Unsuccessful Cuts and Ideas

The President’s budget, with greater detail later today or this week does reveal enough to demonstrate that the Administration is going a third round on some past budget cuts that went nowhere in a Congress run by his own party. The general descriptions provided included in the Budget for a Better America outline, proposes cuts

President’s Child Care Likely Not Building on Bipartisan Progress of 2014-2019

Despite the advocacy for more child care funding, the President’s child care proposal does not increase funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) beyond the 2019 budget of $5.2 billion. It does propose a small $216 million in child care mandatory funding under the TANF law. Instead the major initiative by the

Immigration Bill Introduced

The DREAM and Promise Act was introduced on Tuesday, March 12 by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) as the lead sponsors out of a total of 202 cosponsors. It takes 218 votes to pass the House. The bill addresses two issues: the fate of young people

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