With less than three weeks before the Memorial Day break, the House majority is preparing to use the less than 14 legislative days to flex their muscle with a range of new work requirements in anti-poverty programs. The efforts will focus on nutrition programs, targeting SNAP, but they will also look at housing services including
The Child Welfare League of America has joined onto opposition to H.R. 2, an agriculture reauthorization bill that extends nutrition programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program. The letter CWLA has signed onto urges Members of Congress to vote no. The letter was written jointly by First Focus and the Children’s Leadership Council.
The Commonwealth Fund released findings last Tuesday, May 1 that the increased health insurance coverage under the ACA may be going in reverse. There new survey indicates that the uninsured rate is now 15.5 percent, up from 12.7 percent in 2016. That means about 4 million people have lost coverage in two years. They find
A group of young people, as part of United We Dream, inspired a CWLA crowd at Thursday morning’s plenary, to go to Capitol Hill in support of fixing the current DACA gridlock by passing the DREAMERS Act. Sanaa Abrar, Policy Director for United We Dream was joined on the panel by Claudia Quinonez, Gerson Quinteros,
In preparation for Thursday afternoon Capitol Hill visits, CWLA members and state advocates came together on Wednesday afternoon to hear from a series of Washington D.C. speakers who addressed some of the latest issues and policies including the Family First Act. Associate Commissioner, Children’s Bureau, Jerry Milner offered the group some initial comments and engaged
On April 26, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a notice of $30 million in Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers. The announcement combines 2017 funding that had not been released, with additional FY 2018 FUP funding. FUP vouchers are for families that lack of adequate housing and that lack of housing is
The new Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) was working with his Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to determine a path forward on 2019 appropriations. Shelby, who took over this month when Senator Thad Cochrane (R-MS) retired due to health issues, wants to move appropriations bills to
Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, On Wednesday, April 25 was offering up what may be one of the first Administration responses to the President’s earlier proclamation on “welfare reform.” Carson’s initiative would raise subsidies to 35 percent of income from the current 30 percent. He also is seeking to get rid of
Part of the CWLA National Conference includes the release of CWLA 2018 legislative agenda and supporting materials on the reauthorization of the JJDPA, preservation of SSBG, preserving the ACA and Medicaid, the dangers of block grants, but the main talking points for Capitol Hill will focus on greater funding through the Title IV-B programs to
Last week, Budget Director and Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mick Mulvaney, was again talking up a rescission package that may not get through Congress but could block the release of some spending—at least for a while. Mulvaney indicated that the package of proposed cuts to the just passed 2018 appropriations would likely