Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

Head Start Impact Documented by Brookings

You may have missed it in August but the Brooking Institute released important findings and conclusions about the Head Start program with, The Long-Term Impact of the Head Start Program. In the past some critics of Head Start have argued that the benefits of Head Start “fade-out” as the child moves further into grade school

Plenary Sessions Outline the challenges and Needed Responses

More than 550 attendees at the CWLA Conference were welcomed by opening remarks of Commissioner Rafael Lopez, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), HHS.  Lopez offered praise to the many participants made up of state and local agencies and service providers.  In his first day comments he said that what was most important and

Discussion on Plans of Safe Care

The “CARA” legislation under title five includes amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) regarding a plan of safe care for infants exposed to substances.  It does not reauthorize CAPTA but amends current provisions around a plan of safe care. The plan of safe care for infants requires a state that receives

Child Care Advocates Seek Funding While State Needs Waivers Due to Lack of Funding

--WE WILL BE BACK NEXT ON AUGUST 8--   During the summer break child care advocates will be seeking more child care funding in an effort to make progress on implementing the new mandates enacted through a reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).  The 2014 reauthorization sought to improve the quality

Details on CARA Act-Drug Legislation

The final conference report on the “CARA” legislation includes changes under nine titles.  Its emphasis, unlike past anti-drug initiatives, is more on prevention and treatment. It is a distance from some of the efforts of the 1980s when crack-cocaine was attracting all the attention in regard to substance use.  Actions then and into the 1990s

Senate Adopts CARA Goes To President For Signature

On the last day of summer session, Thursday, July 14, the Senate approved the conference report on the “CARA” legislation and sent the legislation onto the President who will sign it.  The vote was 92 to 2 with only Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) voting no. CARA or the Comprehensive Addiction

House Subcommittee Approves Labor-HHS Bill

On Thursday the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) approved a bill that reduces spending below current year funding and attaches a number of provisions the President would reject. Overall the bill provides $161.6 billion which is a cut of $569 million below this year. 

Panels Discuss Predictive Analytics In Child Protection and Child Welfare

On Thursday, May 17 the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) focused on, Preventing Harm to Children through Predictive Analytics.  A somewhat formal definition of predictive analytics would define it as a practice of taking data and the information gathered from that data to determine patterns and predict outcomes and trends.  It predicts or forecasts what might

House Subcommittee Discusses Substance Use and Evidence

On Wednesday, May 17 the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held their own hearing on the substance-abuse issue and the relationship to child welfare.  It follows last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on the use of evidence-based services and its relationship to child welfare. In his opening statement, the Chairman, Congressman Vern

House Passes Negotiated CAPTA Safe Care, Senate Next

On Wednesday, May 11, the House of Representatives passed the Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act, H.R. 4843, by a vote of 421 to zero. Late last year a Reuters investigation examined the care for infants born to parents struggling with opioid and heroin addiction. It caught the attention of Congress especially the parts

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