On Tuesday, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bill to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA). The program provides three different grants to community-based organizations to reach out to homeless youth on the streets, provide crisis intervention housing, basic life necessities, family interventions and longer-term housing options when
On Tuesday, January 27, Capitol Hill was the scene of a briefing and a report-release by the Children's Advocacy Institute and First Star that leveled heavy criticism of federal oversight of the nation’s child welfare services. The report, Shame On U.S , details an examination of the federal government and its oversight of the nation’s
Last week the House of Representatives on suspension of the rule (a fast-track vote process) passed a dozen bills intended to address or help combat human trafficking while improving services to survivors. The one most significant to child welfare would amend the Child Abuse Prevention and treatment Act (CAPTA). H.R. 469 – Strengthening Child Welfare Response
Last week the office of Community Services released two new annual reports on the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). The 2011 and 2012 reports show similar results as the 2010 report and reaffirms how the $1.7 billion in funding continues to support a range of child welfare services—especially as a prime funder of child
On Thursday, January 22, the President’ released a child care expansion proposal to build on his support for an expanded child care tax credit first announced at the state of the Union Address on Tuesday of last week. Under the new proposal the President would provide significant increases to the child care block grant, the
"[Shackles] made me feel like a chained dog that you are trying to make into something less than I am. [I] hated seeing the tears in my dad’s eyes when he saw me in cuffs.” —17- year-old boy, Arizona, September 2014 Since 1921, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), the oldest child welfare organization
Last week the Children’s Bureau released the annual 2013 Child Maltreatment Report. During the year, there were an estimated 3.5 million referrals or calls to child protective services agencies. The reports of child abuse or neglect were estimated to include 6.4 million children. Of the reports, an estimated 60.8 percent were screened in, meaning they
One early indication of the level of bipartisanship may come this week as the Senate HELP Committee uses its first full committee hearing to focus on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ESEA was last reauthorized in 2002 as the No Child Left Behind Act but it expired in 2007.
This past November the Office of Inspector General at HHS issued an updated report on the challenges states are facing regarding the required health screening of children through Medicaid. The IG report indicated that health screenings have increased (nationally) from 56 percent in 2006 to 63 percent in 2013, but also found that both ratios
To coincide with National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) have released a PowerPoint presentation focusing on highlights of their report Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States. The presentation shares findings on how schools, law enforcement, victim