On Tuesday, June 28 the Child Welfare League America and the National Association of Social Workers cosponsored a briefing on the child welfare workforce. The briefing entitled, Let's Improve Child Welfare Outcomes: The Workforce Matters, provided background on what it takes to perform some of the critical work within the child welfare field. Panelists included
Congress acting on an omnibus appropriations bill is certain. The only question is when they will pass such a bill and how long it will run. There are days not weeks left before the summer break starts. That break will run through Labor Day. It is expected that there will be limited days in September
Shortly before adopting the Family First Prevention Services Act, HR 5456, they passed a one-year extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The TANF law is set to expire under its current one-year extension. The extension was a part of the larger bill, the Social Impact Partnership to Pay for Success
The Bill Passes On Wednesday, June 15 the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456). The legislation was adopted by a voice vote but only after more than an hour of debate that outlined some of the challenges regarding the proposal and the process. Most members, both Republicans
On Monday, June 13 a group of advocates and organizations led by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) hosted a forum to discuss the challenges of homeless students in America’s public schools. Under the federal McKinney-Vento Education Act there is a small amount of money in the federal budget
HHS has revised and increased the amount given to states under the Adoption and Subsidized Guardianships Incentives Fund. The new revised figures make up for a shortfall paid out of federal fiscal year 2015 funds by taking from federal fiscal year 2016 funds. The awards, recently expanded by Congress to both adoptions and kinship placement
On Tuesday June 7 and Thursday June 9, the Senate Appropriations moved a Labor-HHS-Education bill through Subcommittee and full Committee respectively. Leadership from both sides proclaimed a bipartisan victory of what was passed with little controversy. The big winner, if there can be in tight budgets, is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which received
With Congress returning and approximately 27 to 24 potential days in session for the House and Senate before their summer break, appropriations bills are likely to be the prime focus. That leaves little space for addressing the Families first draft legislation unless there is some strong consensus between the two houses. There are also some
On Wednesday, May 11, the House of Representatives passed the Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act, H.R. 4843, by a vote of 421 to zero. Late last year a Reuters investigation examined the care for infants born to parents struggling with opioid and heroin addiction. It caught the attention of Congress especially the parts
On Wednesday, April 11, House Ways and Means Committee began a markup on a package of bills that may result in a reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). House Republicans are promoting the TANF reauthorization and limited package of changes as part of their programs to reduce. In announcing the hearing Committee