Protecting Youth & Families

2020 Appropriations: Cloudy With a Chance of Shutdown

Despite Congress’s return this past week, the fate of the FY 2020 budget is no clearer. With FY 2020 appropriations expiring on November 21, reports in Washington media outlets, including the Washington Post, indicate that the President has drawn a line in the sand over his desire to have more funding for the Mexico-U.S. border

Breaking Intergenerational Cycles of Domestic Violence and Trauma

On October 16, 2019, the YWCA held a briefing entitled Breaking Intergenerational Cycles of Domestic Violence and Trauma, which featured community-level panelists representing YWCA programs across the nation. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) spoke about his work with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to reauthorize the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), which aims to provide

Teens and Children See Dramatic Increase in Suicide Rates

This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report, Death Rates Due to Suicide and Homicide Among Persons Aged 10–24: United States, 2000–2017. Among children and youth ages, 10 to 24 years old suicides climbed 56% between 2007 and 2017. Perhaps what is even worse is that the suicide rate

Press Release and Resources on DACA Amicus Brief

On Monday, October 7, 2019, the groups that headed up the Supreme Court amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), released a press statement describing both the reasons for the action and resources that advocates can use. CWLA was one of more than thirty groups signing on in support of

CAPTA Days of Action

Tuesday, October 15 from 2pm to 3pm is the final #CAPTA Day of Action – take 5 minutes to show your support on social media and encourage others to take action for CAPTA and CAPTA reauthorization. In addition to raising awareness throughout your network, Twitter is a great way to contact your elected officials. Be

Administration Seeks Comments on How to Improve Child Care

On October 2, 2019, the Administration posted in the federal register a solicitation for comments on the current childcare system. The comments which are due December 2, classify comments by Improving Access to Affordable High Quality Care and Transforming Financing of Child Care and Early Education Programs. The solicitation asks for targeted comments regarding supply,

War on Working Families, Another Rule Change to SNAP

On Thursday, October 3, 2019, for the third time this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces another change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would cut food benefits from households by a total of $4.5 billion over five years. According to the USDA, the proposed rule, SNAP Standardization of Sate

Administration Attempt to Establish Another Hurdle for Documented Aliens

The President issued an executive order last week Saturday, October 5, 2019 that would create an additional hurdle for immigrants with visa's seeking to enter the U.S. The applicant must show that within 30 days of the alien's entry into the United States they have health care or, unless the alien possesses the financial resources

Who Cares: A National Count of Foster Homes and Families

On October 10, 2019, The Chronicle of Social Change, released its third annual analysis of the nation’s foster care housing crisis. Through the collection and analysis of state data and federal reporting, this year’s findings aim to address two critical questions: 1. How many children and youth are in foster care today? 2. Where and

Courts Use of the Valid Court Order

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the only federal law that protects children and youth in the justice system and address prevention services for at-risk youth. JJDPA was passed in 1974 and most recently reauthorized in 2018. In 1980, Congress added the valid court order (VCO) exception to the Deinstitutionalization of Status

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