On Thursday, December 19, Congress passed the Family First Transition Act as part of an omnibus appropriations bill this week. The further consolidated appropriations bill of 2020 (page 1483) is the appropriations agreement reached through Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and congressional leaders. The original vehicle for the Family First Transition bill was supposed to move
On Tuesday, December 17, NPR’s Steve Inskeep and journalist with The Kansas City Star Laura Bauer discussed the investigation of the outcomes for foster care children in America. The 7-minute interview, “Kansas City Star’ Probe Uncover Failures In Foster Care System, illustrated what happens to children who age out of foster care. Bauer and her
On December 30, the Washington Post in an article, “We are just destroying these kids’: The foster children growing up inside detention centers,” documented some of the ongoing problems in the state of West Virginia and the tragedy of some youth ending up in the state’s juvenile justice system when they should have been in
On Thursday, December 12, the House of Representatives adopted HR 3, Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. It passed by a vote of 230 to 192. The legislation would create new methods to control prescription drug prices. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had been guiding the package for several months with an eye toward a possible
Last month, CWLA released the 2020 Presidential candidates platform, Making Children a National Priority, highlighting plans that focused on children and their families. Only two candidates, Julian Castro and Senator Kamala Harris, provided recommendations on foster care. Castro’s Children First Plan for Foster Families is comprehensive reform efforts addressing the full continuum of care. Majority
On November 18, 2019, the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (HR 4300) passed unanimously in the House of Representatives. Shortly after the passage, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the companion bill in the Senate and hopes to pass it by unanimous consent next week. We need your help! Urge your Senators
Late on Friday Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) released their bill, “Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act.” It includes provisions identical to the Family First Transition Act—the bill that would provide $500 million to states to help implement the Family First Act. The bill also extends home visiting programs for two years.
Following up on a Friday, November 1, press announcement, on Tuesday, November 19, HHS published both their notice of non-enforcement of anti-discrimination provisions implemented during the Obama Administration and a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the Obama nondiscrimination regulation regarding federal funding under HHS programs including child welfare funding under Title IV-E and Title IV-E.
On Monday, November 18, the House passed the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (FSHO) (H.R. 4300) by unanimous consent. Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) stated that this is a “bill of the heart and that he is looking forward to working with his colleagues in the Senate to ensure this bill becomes law and that aging
Last week S. 2777 and H.R. 4980, the Family First Transition Act was introduced in both houses with bipartisan support. CWLA has endorsed the legislation. The two identical bills will provide $500 million to all states and jurisdictions distributed under Title IV-B, part 1 formula. States will have two years (retroactive to October 1, 2019)