After several days of back and forth, the House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, HR 6201, on Friday night. The House vote was 363 to 40. The Senate left on Thursday but is expected to take the legislation up this week after canceling their one week break. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
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 Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee held a hearing on “Combating Child Poverty in America.” The hearing focused on how we can work to end child poverty and ways in which Congress can work “together with researchers, local leaders, and the communities themselves to meet that
On Monday, March 2, 2020, the Supreme Court announced it will take up a case that could ultimately strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), that is what its opponents are hoping. It also means that the Court in the fall of 2020 will have several highly controversial cases to consider (along with the previous
The Children's Bureau released guidance on implementing funds appropriated by the Family First Transition Act, passed in December 2019 by Congress. The Program Instruction, ACYF-CB-PI-20-04, provides guidance States, Territories, and Indian Tribes about what they must do to receive the one-time Family First Prevention Services Act Transition Grant. The $500 million are available to all
On Friday, March 6, 2020, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released six more Title IV-E Prevention Services programs and services ratings for the Title IV-E Prevention Services in accordance with the Family First Prevention Services Act. These practices include mental health services, substance abuse prevention and treatment services, in-home parent skill-based programs, and
On March 2, 2020, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) demanded answers on reports that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was using confidential child therapy sessions notes in making deportation decisions. The Washington Post reported on how Kevin Euceda, a young Honduran who had arrived as an unaccompanied minor in
On Monday, February 24, 2020, the Supreme Court announced it will take up a case pursued by Catholic Charities of Philadelphia claiming the City of Philadelphia was engaged in religious discrimination when it pulled a child welfare contract because of the charity’s policy of not recognizing same sex couples for placements involving foster and adoptive
A leaked copy of the House Appropriations Committee schedule was published in Roll Call and included a timeline for House Appropriations action. The Subcommittee on Appropriations for Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-HHS) will be taken up on April 29, 2020. The plan is that the subcommittees will start action on April 21 with the Agriculture
On Thursday, February 27, 2020, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Chairman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing entitled The Administration’s Religious Liberty Assault on LGBT Rights. The hearing focused on how the Trump Administration has been undermining LGBTQ