Democratic leaders sent mixed messages all last week on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and whether or not it would be a line in the sand for their votes in any end-of-the-year packages. In addition to the previous week’s letter by 34 House Republicans calling for action on DACA by
Although some states, running their own health care purchasing exchanges, have kept their open enrollment going, HHS shut down open enrollment on Friday, December 15 converting what had been a 12 week enrollment period down to 6 weeks. For people living in the 39 states that rely on the federal site, reports were rampant of
Download CWLA Advocacy App to Your Phone and Advocate on Your Own Time! Search for "votervoice" (one word) in your App store, or use one of these links: Google Play or iTunes After you download the App, you will be prompted to enter your email. A verification code will be sent to your email. After verifying
As a result of last year’s 21st Century Cures Act, a new Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC) has issued its set of recommendations. The full report: The Way Forward: Federal Action for a System That Works for All People Living With SMI and SED and Their Families and Caregivers addresses how the government
Shaquita Ogletree On December 13, 2017, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held a congressional briefing to discuss recruiting and retaining quality foster parents. The briefing focused on CHAMPS – children need amazing parents. The campaign promotes the need for state and local agencies to establish a new partnership between foster parents and child welfare
A new letter in support of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) call for a doubling child care funding is now circulating. CWLA has signed onto the appropriations request in an effort to highlight the dramatic unmet need. The funding request would increase appropriated child care funding by $2.9 billion, a doubling of current appropriations. In 2014
Congress made quick action of a two-week continuing resolution (CR) on Thursday, December 7, extending FY 2018 funding to December 22, 2017. Kicking the proverbial can down the road, congressional leaders now have two more weeks to negotiate a laundry list of items that were supposed to be completed last September 30. The House approved
With the latest data on child welfare showing that there are 437,465 children in foster care as of September 30, 2016 and a trendline of five straight years of increases going from 396,966 in 2012 to 437,465 in 2016, some states are going in the opposite direction. Counting California (with a slight increase) and the
On Monday, December 4, the Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign was launched to promote best interests of all children in foster and adoption systems. The campaign is headed up by the Family Equality Council and includes a coalition of nearly two dozen founding organizations including the Child Welfare League of America. The goal of
As leaders met at the White House it became no clearer whether young people effected by the President’s repeal of DACA will get relief by the end of 2017. On Tuesday, December 5 a letter was sent to the Speaker by 34 House Republicans calling for action on DACA by the end of this year.