On February 9, the head of New York City’s JJCA child welfare agency, penned an opinion piece in the Capitol Hill publication, The Hill, calling out an HHS decision to waive anti-discrimination regulations in child welfare placements. CEO Ronald E Richter denounced the recent decision by the Administration to issue the waiver arguing that there
On Wednesday, February 13, 95 Members of the House signed a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar criticizing the Departments decision to grant a waiver to South Carolina from nondiscrimination provisions of the federal child welfare programs. A few days later Americans United filed a lawsuit against HHS. The House of
Jay Williams On Wednesday, January 30, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) reintroduced the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (S.274), similar to legislation he sponsored along with Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA) last year. The legislation, which CWLA does not support, would require HHS to penalize state child welfare agencies who are found in violation of “provider inclusion”
Building on efforts such as the Enzi legislation, a report in the Washington Post last week says that the President’s coming FY 2020 budget will request language to expand its authority to allow discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs. The Post article states “In a 2020 draft budget request that has not been made
GLSEN has released a new school guide and national survey of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists (SMHP). The Supporting Safe and Healthy Schools for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Students finds: The guide includes results from a survey of mental health professionals regarding issues dealing with the student LGBTQ population. Survey categories include:
On Wednesday, January 23, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a long-delayed decision that grants a child welfare agency in the state of South Carolina a waiver from anti-discrimination requirements under Title IV-E foster care and adoption assistance. The action permits one child welfare agency, Miracle Hill, to continue restricting their recruitment practices
This week CWLA reached out to the more than 100 new members of the 116th Congress with a child welfare background package of information including Investing in All of Child Welfare. This piece argues for investing in ALL of child welfare services: Child welfare’s continuum of care includes prevention of child abuse before it happens
Voice for Adoption (VFA), the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) and the Center on American Progress have released a new study, Welcoming All Families that analyses discrimination against LGBTQ youth in foster care and discrimination against the recruitment of foster and adoptive parents. The report finds that although same-sex parents are not banned
The Administration has announced one of their decisions regarding an update of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) with an August 21, 2018 Federal Register announcement. They will delay an implementation that was scheduled to take place now. Instead the Children’s Bureau will delay the compliance and effective dates in the
On Thursday, July 25, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a Senate “Dear Colleague” letter opposing the House Appropriations Aderholt Amendment. The letter was signed by 40 senators. There are some members who did not sign the letter due to their leadership roles on the Appropriations Committee and in the Senate, who are all but certain