On Tuesday, March 31, FosterClub announced the #UPChafee Challenge to bring awareness to the importance of an increase in support for foster youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the message is heard, FosterClub asked young people with lived experience in foster care to contact their Members of Congress and share why it is so
On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the U.S. Senate unveiled and passed HR 748, the third COVID-19 emergency spending legislation. The House gave its final approval on Friday. The $2 trillion supplemental package attempts to cover a range of problem areas from small and big business relief, expanded and extended unemployment compensation, a tax refund pass-through,
HR 748, the third COVID-19 emergency spending legislation, includes some human services and state relief, but the targeted human services funding did not go as far as many groups had been seeking. The biggest source of support is a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund that governors had been pushing for, but it is not as
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, the Children's Bureau and Think of Us hosted a Virtual Town Hall for Older Foster Youth. The hosts in order in which they spoke were: Sixto Cancel, co-founder and CEO of Think of Us, Dr. Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner at the Children's Bureau in the Administration of Children and Families
On Thursday, March 26, 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 Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Congress completed work on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, HR 6201: • An increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid and Title IV-E by 6.2 percent (state by state Medicaid increase, Center on Budget Policy and Priority) • Women, Infants and Children (WIC)—$500 million •
The President had requested $2.5 billion for coronavirus on February 24, and Congress instead sent him a package of $8.3 billion on March 5, which was followed by last week’s bill that tops $100 billion. This third package looks likely to exceed $1 trillion. On Thursday, the Administration released an emergency package that includes a
With the unveiling of the Republican coronavirus # 3, CWLA submitted a letter to Congress outlining some key child welfare concerns. It is challenging to make such recommendations because it isn’t clear how current practice and needs will change, and it isn’t clear how much Congress will spend in this third round of emergency funding.
The Child and Family Service Agencies (CFSA) in Washington, D.C. has made changes to services in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. While the government agency is still providing services, the front-line staff and supervisors of Program Operations are under partial telework status. While the building is closed to the public, supervisors are still required to
On Thursday, March 12, 2020, Associate Commissioner for the Children’s Bureau, Jerry Milner, called on child welfare agencies to look out for youth in foster care or formerly in foster care who are now on college campuses that may be closing. In many instances, these students may not have a home to return to if