On Thursday, July 12 the House Appropriations Committee passed their Labor-Health and Human Services and Education bill after two previous delays. Most of the votes cast were along party line with a great deal of the debate focused on immigration and family separation. In the end the bill was approved along party lines with several
Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee acted on their Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations and sent it on to the Senate floor for future consideration. On the other side of the Capitol Building, the House Appropriations Committee once again delayed action on the Labor-HHS-Education bill reported out by the Subcommittee. Their bill for FY 2019 has been delayed
Shaquita Ogletree Council for Strong America provided a Capitol Hill briefing on “Caring for the Youngest Victims of Our Nation’s Opioid Crisis.” Congressman Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) discussed the fifty-eight bills that were passed by the House of Representatives in recent days along with an additional $4 billion for states and said the action was in
On Friday, June 22, HHS issued their first request for comments on how to approach the issue of defining and listing services and practices that will qualify under the Family First Prevention Services Act. There is a very quick turn-around time with comments due by July 22. Under the Family First Act, HHS is to
Shaquita Ogleetree On Wednesday, June 6th, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth in coordination with Florida’s Camelot Community Care held a youth-lead briefing titled: What’s next for me? Facing my future as I age out of care. A dynamic panel of eight young people between the ages of 18 through 22 and in foster care
Shaquita Ogletree Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ) discussed policies to protect children and treat parents recently implemented in his state recently. At a forum sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Governor described the Opioid Epidemic Act. It has several provisions to reform child welfare including ensuring the court system moves faster with a
On May 23, shortly before the Memorial Day break, the Senate Finance Committee announced a package of 22 bills, (including three on child welfare) that attempt to address the opioid crisis. The bill mainly address the Committee’s jurisdiction over the Medicare and Medicaid programs but the three bills that deal with child welfare address funding
Shaquita Ogletree The Congressional Foster Youth Caucus hosted a Kinship Navigator Programs Roundtable Discussion on May 23. Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA), Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA) and Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) all offered remarks before the panel discussion. The panel discussion included one of the Shadow Day interns (see below) Brittany from Michigan who shared her
Shaquita Ogletree On May 22, the Hill newspaper sponsored another of their series of forums on opioids, America’s Opioid Epidemic: Youth Awareness & Prevention. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) spoke about her state having the highest opioid death rate per capita in the United States and how the state is struggling with the multiple families
For the past 6 years, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth has hosted a Shadow Day on Capitol Hill in coordination with the month of May as Foster Care Month. Youth in foster care and alumni of foster care ages 18-30 are invited to Washington, D.C. The participants are paired with their Members of Congress