CWLA recognized three members of Congress for their advocacy and work over the past year. Senator Patty Murray was recognized on Monday as a Congressional Champion for her on going work on behalf of children. As the Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
On Wednesday, April 29 CWLA participated in a policy briefing at the White House that focused attention on youth and homelessness at the White House. The session included a series of comments from key Administration officials as well as panel discussions. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness established under the McKinney Vento Act has
On Thursday, April 30, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The hearing could be the precursor to a full reauthorization of the program which was last reauthorized in 2005, it has expired and received a series of short
In light of last week’s hearings, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have reintroduced a bill from the last Congress that would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The legislation carries over some of the reforms included in that legislation which was introduced at the end of last year. It
Last week the Senate passed S 178, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Before passing the bill senators added several amendments including additional requirements under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) along with several other amendments. The legislation had been caught up in a debate over abortion and the nomination of Loretta
On April 23, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA) released a new Capitol Hill brief, A Call to Action for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. The paper highlights the fact that the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides an average of only 32 cents
On Tuesday, April 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing Improving Accountability and Oversight of Juvenile Justice Grants Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) with a focus on some recent whistleblower complaints alleging a lack of enforcement by the federal government in requiring states to meet the JJDPA requirements. Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a
Late last Tuesday the Senate gave final approval to the Medicare SRG “doc fix” and in doing so also extended by two years the home visiting program (Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting—MIECHV) and the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program). The Senate followed the House in an overwhelming vote of approval by 92 to
On Thursday, April 16 the Senate HELP Committee gave a unanimous vote of approval to a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The unnumbered bill is called the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. It would replace the current ESEA reauthorization more commonly known as the “No Child Left Behind
Last week the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) joined Voice for Adoption (VFA), the Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) in issuing a joint statement on Parenting of Children by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults. The statement says: (we) “believe that children deserve every opportunity to have