Family & Community Support

Senator Murray, Colleagues Introduces Major Child-focused COVID Bill

Senator Murray (D-WA), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Democrats introduced the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act before the fourth of July holiday break. This bill includes $430 million for many of the Senate Democratic priorities for child care, K-12 schools and higher education, and child welfare: The child welfare specific legislation includes $1.5

Update on Progress Toward Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School

On Tuesday, June 30, 2020, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee gave an update on the progress of the U.S reopening procedures in businesses and education as testifying. Committee members stressed the need for national attention to how school and business reopenings heading into the fall might mean for administrators and shareholders during the

New York City’s Efforts To Return to School Echo Across US

On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a plan to reopen the country’s largest school system this fall. With the President demanding all schools open, the New York city debate shows the challenges. The DeBlasio plan revolves around a schedule that would have some students attend two days of

Child Poverty Bill to Benefit Millions of Children

On Thursday, July 2, 2020, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL), Congresswoman Roybal-Allard and Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) officially dropped the Child Poverty Reduction Act (H.R. 7419/ S. 4115), which commits to cutting child poverty in half in 10 years, just as the pandemic pushes child poverty toward record levels.

2020 KIDS COUNT Data Book Released

The 2020 KIDS COUNT Data Book released last week details how children are faring in the United States and in each state based on thee most recent data on key trends in child well-being prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The KIDS COUNT index captures what children need most to thrive, using four domains: (1) Economic

Lowest Level of Juveniles in Residential Placement

The 2017 Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP), a biennial survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census on behalf of the Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), shows that the number of youth in placement continues to decline. Between 1997 and 2017, the number of juvenile

Children’s Bureau Offers Guidance on TPR and Adoption Assistance

In a June 23, 2020 letter from Children’s Bureau, Associate Commissioner Jerry Milner addressed state leaders offering guidance on addressing the termination of a parent’s rights (TPR) and on how to reach out to adoptive families during this COVID-19 pandemic. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires termination of parental rights if a child has been

Help Non-Filers Get Their Stimulus/Treasury Re-sends 44,000 EBT Cards

For those people who lack bank accounts and other measures to deposit the rebate checks of up to $1200 per person, the U.S. Treasury has issued 3.6 million electronic impact payments (EIPs) more commonly thought of as debit cards.  In a letter to members of the House, Treasury indicated that as of June 19, 2020

President Issues Executive Order on Child Welfare

On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, the President issued an Executive Order (EO) on “Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America’s Children.”  The EO includes a number of directives to HHS regarding future data collection reports to the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and some future adjustments to the Child and Families Services Reviews (CFSR) over

Appropriations and Next COVID-19 Package in July

As Congress gets closer to July, it will increase pressure on Senate leadership to address a fifth COVID-19 package. States are entering their new fiscal years on July 1, and many of those states are assuming new needed federal funding to offset the expected loss of revenue and need for health care, human services, and individual

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