The report and briefing came at the end of the week when the President issued another executive order, Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility. This order directs various federal Departments (Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education) to double-down and toughen work requirements.
Shaquita Ogletree On Tuesday, April 10, the Greater Boston Food Bank and Children’s Health Watch hosted a briefing to discuss the financial cost of food insecurity and hunger. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), co-chair of the Bipartisan Hunger Caucus, has championed the health-related cause of hunger and food insecurity and called for his colleagues to focus
Congress returns this week, but the longest work periods are over for the 115th Congress, making it less likely anything of significance will pass between now and the election. Both houses will take a week off at the start of May, with the Memorial Day and July 4th breaks cutting into the rest of summer
Congress is behind on dealing with FY 2019 appropriations but before moving on those 12 bills, they may take a shot at cutting back on FY 2018. There were reports that Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the number two leader in the House, has had discussions with the Administration on using the President’s rescission authority to
On Wednesday, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on additional legislation to deal with opioids. The legislation, The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, has been called by some a second version of the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The Committee released a discussion draft on April 4 with public comments
Part of what the Senate (and future House) action is about is the funding that was included in the FY 2018 appropriations. The Congressional response includes several increases and provisions that add some actual dollars to address the issue. Some, like the child welfare spending increases have a dual purpose with part of the purpose
A combination of higher budget caps tied to the defense budget and the increasing spread of opioid addiction combined into a final appropriation deal that resulted in some truly historic increases in children’s spending. Leading the way was the single biggest increase in child care funding history at $2.3 billion with an additional $600 million
The just-signed appropriations had a number of improvements for a child welfare advocacy community that does not normally experience. Congress was not “budget neutral”, e.g. we will increase child welfare funding if we cut child welfare funding in other areas. The increase in CAPTA is in fact historic rising from an ever-eroding base of $25
The $2.3 billion in new child care funding represents an historic increase not experienced since its inception in 1990 under the George H.W. Bush Administration. Other increases included the 1996 TANF law that included an influx of $1 billion over six years that also leveraged state matching funds. The next big increase came at the
Shaquita Ogletree The final federal budget for FY 2018 resulted in an overall Juvenile Justice funding level that is slightly above 2017. There is a notable $22 million increase for youth impacted by the opioid crisis and drug addiction added to Title V and Youth Mentoring programs. State Formula grants increased by $5 million to