On Thursday, March 7, four key congressional leaders on child welfare asked HHS Secretary Alex Azar to increase the HHS efforts on the implementation of the Family First Act. The letter signed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support
Shaquita Ogletree The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a long-standing federal law protecting the well-being of Native children by upholding family integrity and stability within their community; and the “gold standard” in child welfare policy. October 2018, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that
Nick Cervone The Children’s Bureau, within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released a summary of their Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) program. YARH is a three-phase grant program to determine new and effective ways of preventing homelessness among youth and young adults who have been involved in the child welfare system.
Child Care For Working Families Act On Tuesday, February 26, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) along with his Senate counterpart, Senator Patty Murray introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act. The House version is HR 1364 and the Senate bill is S 586. HR 1364 begins with 106 House co-sponsors while the Senate bill has
Kylie Hunter The Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday, March 6, held a hearing, The Way Forward on Border Security. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kirstjen Nielsen was the main witness. Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) opened with remarks observing that since the last time the Committee met was a year
A reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is still in the evolutionary stage but while talks and discussions are taking place, CWLA and others are seeking significant increases in CAPTA state grants and the CB-CAP program. The increase CWLA and others are seeking is $500 million for Title I of CAPTA
Jay Williams While one committee was hearing from the Secretary of Homeland Security last week, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing on Protecting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Recipients. The witness panel included Jim Park - Rhodes Scholar, DACA Recipient, Yatta Kiazolu, UCLA Ph.D. Candidate, DED Recipient,
Tessa Buttram On Thursday, March 7, the House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee held a hearing entitled, Leveling the Playing Field for Working Families: Challenges and Opportunities. Chairman Danny Davis (D-IL) opened the hearing saying that “Lack of affordable child care and paid leave are not “some of us” problems but
On Thursday, February 28, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) released the results of their nearly two year study on reducing child poverty in the United States, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty. CWLA President & CEO Chris James-Brown was one of the 15 member committee that studied the issue and wrote
Shaquita Ogletree On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, Zero to Three and Child Trends held the Think Babies Policy Forum and announced the release of the State of Babies Yearbook: 2019. “The first three years of a child’s life shape every year that follows, and the state where a baby is born makes a big difference