On Thursday, July 18, 2019 the Children’s Bureau released guidance to states on how they can include in their state plans procedures to allow for “transitional payments” for prevention services and programs that have not yet been listed in the Family First Prevention Services Clearinghouse. Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI-19-06: says that the instruction allows a
On July 16, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) hosted the 2019 Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program Congressional Briefing. This was CCAI's 17th annual hearing consisting of policy recommendations from each presenter of the 2019 FYI Cohort including Anthony Abshire, Joshua Christian, Liliana Cory, Ria Esteves, David Samuel Hall, Sheree Hickman, Mackenzie McGeehan, Alexander
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in HHS has released new findings on Therapeutic Foster Care that analyzes the benefits and challenges of TFC. Therapeutic Foster Care is intended to help children in care who have behavioral or emotional disorders. It is provided in a family-based setting by an
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an opinion on July 15, 2019 telling Congress that recent changes the Administration made to the ACA waiver authority were significant enough to allow for congressional review because it is a new federal “rule.” As a result, it is subject to congressional oversight and requires certain reporting to
On July 16, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on “Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System” to examine the exponential growth of women being incarcerated for nonviolent offenses since the 1980s. In Chairwoman Bass’ (D-CA) opening statement, she noted many consequences of mass incarceration, such as
A new study published in PEDIATRICS offers evidence that states with stricter gun laws including laws requiring universal background checks for firearm purchase had lower firearm-related pediatric mortality rates. Pointing out that firearms are the second lead cause of pediatric deaths, the authors said: “In this 5-year analysis, states with stricter gun laws and laws
A new report by Avalere analyzed the impact of a Medicaid block or per capita cap’s effect on health care funding. The results are very negative especially for children. The study shows that between 2020 and 2029 federal funding lost under a Medicaid block grant would result in a $163 to $143 billion cut
Last month, when the House of Representatives approved a four-bill appropriations package that included appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (by a vote of 226-to 203) they included an important improvement for child abuse prevention. The final House appropriation for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) received a $35 million increase to
On June 28, 2019 the Supreme Court announced that it will take up a legal challenge to the Obama Executive Order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) protections. The Court announcement came as the Justices wrapped up this year’s 2018-19 session. The Court term begins the first Monday in October and the
On Tuesday, July 9, 2019 the 5th Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. Twenty states, led by Republican governors and attorneys general, have been seeking the law’s elimination because Congress, with the tax cut package of last year, eliminated the mandatory tax on people