On Friday, April 17, 2020, the Children’s Bureau released a letter to the child welfare field on allowable use of funds during the national emergency for the purchase of cell phones and other tools to facilitate or maintain contact with children and youth in foster care and their parents and the purchase of personal protective
On Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a devastating analysis, States Need Significantly More Fiscal Relief to Slow the Emerging Deep Recession, that indicates that state and local governments are going to require a massive amount of federal funding as those budgets absorb the impact of the COVID-19 virus.
In the last week to ten days, a number of groups and leaders have submitted public letters outlining their greatest concerns. One of the most prominent was a letter by the National Governors Association (NGA), which is currently co-chaired by Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) and Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) calling on Congress to provide an
Sixto Cancel, Founder and CEO of Think of Us, hosted a webinar with the Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau, Dr. Jerry Milner, Chris Patterson from the Department of Housing and Development, and Ruth White from the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare (NCHCW). Sixto and Patterson both were former foster youth who aged
The National League of Cities and the United States Conference of Mayors released a joint survey on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, that indicated that 100 percent of all cities with a population of more than 500,000 people would feel the direct impact of the pandemic and a crumbling economy. Whereas 98 percent of cities with
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week recommending improved oversight of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program, which funds state efforts to help low-income families access crucial child care services. Following the release of the report, Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), issued the
On Tuesday, April 7, the Administration requested another $250 billion for the Small Business Loans that just opened a little more than a week ago. The forgiveness loans are open to small businesses of less than 500 employees. SBA loans are available to nonprofit organizations. There has been significant confusion and even frustration as loan
Senate Democrats unveiled a "Heroes Fund" on Tuesday, April 7. The legislation, announced by Minority Leader Schumer, would create a federally funded program that would allow a $25,000 premium pay increase for essential workers. It would also pay for a $15,000 worker recruitment incentive grant to workers. According to information provided by bill sponsors, employers
Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) and Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) joined together in a bipartisan plea through the Washington Post: What governors need from Washington during this health emergency. In their comments posted on Tuesday, March 30, 2020, the two governors, who have both been bold and aggressive in their actions to contain COVID-19, called on
Last week the Congressional Research Services released Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) Increase Available for Title IV-E Foster Care and Permanency Payments, a brief description of how the Coronavirus relief package #2 will impact on foster care and adoption assistance funding. The Medicaid matching rate was raised for all state Medicaid programs by 6.2 percent.