On Thursday, April 8, 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released monthly data on border crossing, which found that over 18,800 unaccompanied children crossed the border in March. That exceeds any other previous month, with May 2019 reaching the previous high of 11,000 children. Overall the CBP indicated that more than 172,000 persons attempted entry along
This is a continuation of last week’s description of the American Rescue Plan Act. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure has a lot in it that directly and indirectly addresses the impact of this year-long pandemic. It addresses many issues that have received increased focus because of this past year’s struggles (racial and regional inequities within the
On Tuesday, March 16, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 485 – Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by 345-73, and now it heads to the Senate. It proposes robust funding increases for states and local communities to implement strategies and programs that prevent child abuse is critical to strengthen families and protecting
Child Trends has released the new biennial report on state spending on child welfare, Child Welfare Financing SFY 2018, and it shows little dramatic difference from previous years. Total child welfare agency expenditures increased by 6 percent from SFY 2016 to SFY 2018, but only by 2 percent over the past decade. That may not be
On Thursday, March 18, 2021, the House of Representatives voted 228 to 197 for HR 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. The legislation is actually two immigration-related bills, with one dealing with young people seeking citizenship and a second bill dealing with farmworkers provisions. The legislation’s main feature is to allow certain young people and
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure has a lot in it that directly and indirectly addresses the impact of this year-long pandemic. It includes several issues that have received increased focus because of this past year’s struggles (for example, the racial and regional inequities within the economy and health care system). There are limited added funds specific
Last week the Biden Administration announced the release of $250 million through the HHS Office of Minority Health for initiatives to promote vaccinations to minority and other underserved populations. The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) will offer the funding as health literacy grants to localities, who will partner with community-based organizations. The effort
On Tuesday, March 9, 2021, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing entitled “Examining Our COVID-19 Response: An Update from the Frontlines.” Chairwoman Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) highlighted over half a million lives lost and 29 million infected across the country. She also discussed the impact the pandemic is
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection released statistics on Wednesday, March 10, showing that the number of migrants attempting to cross the border every day in February was close to 3,500- which is a 28% increase since January. The number of unaccompanied minors also rose 60% since January, to over 9,400. This increase in
Last Tuesday, March 9, 2021, the Biden Administration asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a case generated by the Trump Administration to enforce their changes in the “public charge” rule. The action is expected to have the effect of rolling back the Trump rule and retore the rule to the 1999 version. The Department