On Thursday, January 18, the Administration announced the creation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division within the HHS Office of Civil Rights. The Administration described the responsibilities of the division as promoting and protecting religious freedom in HHS programs. The Office of Civil Rights Director Roger Severino said, “Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience
Today (Tuesday, January 16) marks the 108th day of the FY 2018 fiscal year without a budget and it looks that that number will continue to increase by this time next week. Even if there is a deal this week it will require a fourth CR to allocate whatever funds that are agreed upon. That
As reported during the December holidays, there is concern that the Administration is seeking to split up families at the boarder using child separation as a deterrent. CWLA has joined onto a joint letter by concerned groups in calling on Homeland Security to reject such policies. The new administration policy would allow for a policy
T here were White House talks on a DACA replacement last week but it was unclear what progress was made on replacing the Obama-era Executive Order (E.O) on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Democrats are making sounds that a DACA fix must be part of a deal done this month.
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.
The GAO has released a report Child Well Being: Key Considerations for Policymakers. The report is intended as an assessment of what is known about child well-being and provides some views on what could or should be considered to address it. The report says: “In recent years, the well-being of children in the United States
No breakthroughs on a DACA compromise this past week and as a result other outside action is proceeding. A group of advocates will sponsor a briefing on Wednesday, November 29 to highlight the benefits of the DACA provisions. The briefing (see below) will feature business leaders; educators on these young people can assist the economy
On Wednesday, the former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, authored an Op-ed Opinion in the New York Times that ending DACA will undermine national security efforts. Gates pointed out that more than 800 Dreamers are currently serving in the armed forces. He highlighted that between 2006 through 2011 more than 45,000 immigrants served in the
The President had a discussion with some Senators before he departed for Asia. He managed to throw a monkey wrench into the current DACA discussions by telling Senators they should not include DACA into a final budget deal in December. They made a statement after the meeting saying they would not attach a DACA fix