Protecting Youth & Families

Congress Passes First Appropriations, Readies CR-HHS Bill

Cutting their week short due to the hurricane, the Senate gave final approval to a Military Construction and Veterans -Energy and Water--Legislative Branch FY 19 spending package sending it back to the House for a final approval. The bill goes to the White House for signature and marks the first FY 2019 bills enacted before

Census Releases New Annual Poverty Data

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 12, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data on income and poverty in the United States for the year 2017. According to the data released, the U.S. poverty rate declined to 12.3 percent in 2017 for the third consecutive year accounting for 39.7 million people living in poverty. The poverty

Senate to Take Up Delayed Vote on Opioids This Week

The Senate delayed a vote on an opioids package of legislation until this week. The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, addresses a range of programs and agencies, sometimes building on 2016 Congressional action though the CARA and CURES acts of that year. Senators had intended to debate the bill on Thursday but put off

Limits on Medication-Assisted Drug Treatment for Youth Despite Benefits

Last week the Journal of the American Medical Association -Pediatrics (JAMA-Pediatrics) published research that indicated youth with an opiods-use disorder are less likely to receive medication-assisted treatment despite its positive effect in encouraging on-going substance abuse treatment. The research, Receipt of Timely Addiction Treatment and Association of Early Medication Treatment with Retention in Care among

Senate Caucus Briefing on Interventions that Prevent Foster Care Placements

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 12, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth hosted a congressional briefing on effective interventions that are working to keep children and families intact and preventing entry into foster care. The panel included a discussion by Christen Glickman and Jessica Wooten from Youth Village, Chelsea Geyer and Ms. U from DC127,

Congress Continues Path Toward Appropriations

Last week Congress continued on a path that would allow some appropriations bills to be signed into law by October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Last week Republican leadership met with the President, appointed some House-Senate conferees and continued to negotiate. All of this was done with the President sending some mixed messages.

Administration Seeks Elimination of Child Immigrant Protections

On Friday, September 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a federal register notice that proposes, through the regulation process, to amend a court agreement relating to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of children detained at the U.S. border. The notice, Apprehension, Processing,

CWLA Urges Congressional Action on JJDPA Reauthorization

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 5, CWLA sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging the passage of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA). CWLA joins the Act 4 Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) campaign in circulating a letter a day urging Congress to act on the JJDPA reauthorization soon. Act4JJ is composed of

Panel Focuses on DACA Extensions and Protections

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) hosted a Capitol Hill briefing featuring immigration and education experts to discuss the impact of the Administration’s efforts rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has had on students and teachers over the past year. DACA was created under President Obama in 2012 and on September

Opioids Bills Still Waiting

The Senate has been struggling to move their opiods legislation, but the hope is it will finally move this week. When they do its passage is to set the stage for a mega-negotiation with the House. Back in the spring there had been a hope that there would be movement on another opiods abuse bill

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