On December 15th the CHAMPS (Children Need Amazing Parents) initiative held a discussion concerning the conclusion of the five-year program which began in 2017. Hope Cooper facilitated a final informational session discussing findings and lessons learned during the program. Jeremy Kohomban (President and CEO of Children’s Village and Co-chair of CHAMPS) stated that CHAMPS had
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced proposed changes to the foods available to participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to align the food packages with the latest nutrition science and support equitable access to nutritious foods during critical life stages. “Taken collectively, the changes will increase the
On January 10th, 2023, New America announced updated and improved state paid leave briefs as well as information on wages, benefit caps, and payroll contributions for the coming year. The announcement offered resources that discussed the federal FMLA and the State Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs as well as information on duration and utilization
After 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy has secured enough votes to become the 53rd Speaker of the House of Representatives. Since 2006, Speaker McCarthy has served California’s 23rd district in Congress. After he was elected to Congress, Speaker McCarthy became Chief Deputy Whip and later served as Majority Whip. In 2014, he was elected
On January 6th, 2023, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth (CCFY) announced that it will be co-chaired by Congressmembers Gwen Moore (D-WI), Don Bacon (R-NE), Sydney Kamlager (D-CA), and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA). CCFY is one of the largest bipartisan caucuses in the House of Representatives and the new leaders are committed to improving the
This past Congress has certainly had its challenges. Throughout the last Congress, CWLA has joined with national stakeholders and coalitions to increase funding levels across 44 separate funding programs – many of which received an increase in the spending omnibus, and some remained at level funding. While a notable disappointment was the failure to reauthorize
On December 15th, the Trevor Project released the 2022 U.S. National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. For the first time, the report presents findings on the experiences of nearly 34,000 LGBTQ people ages 13-24 in the U.S., segmented by all 50 states. From the summary: “These data provide critical insights into the suicide risk
The National Women’s Law Center released a new report on December 15th, 2022: State Child Care and Early Education Updates 2022: Progress on a Long Path. The report provides state-by-state summaries highlighting key actions taken by states in the past year to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and early education opportunities and to
Last week, Congress continued to forge ahead on negotiating an Appropriations deal. Democrats and Republicans reached a topline spending agreement for a fiscal 2023 omnibus, three of the four top appropriators on Capitol Hill said late Tuesday, December 13th, 2022. Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said in a statement that negotiators had "reached a
On Wednesday, December 13th, 2022, Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and Danny Davis (D-IL), Chair of the Worker and Family Support Subcommittee on Ways and Means, introduced the Fostering Secure Family Partnerships Act, a bill to increase federal funding for state Kinship Navigator Programs — which provide caregivers with information, education, and referrals to a wide