General

House Looks at Homelessness in America

by Tessa Buttram On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, “Homeless in America: Examining the Crisis and Solutions to End Homelessness.” This was the first hearing of the Committee in the 116th Congress. Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) began the hearing by providing an overview on homelessness in the

House Committee Raises Concerns Over Family Separation

On Thursday February 7, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held their first hearing in the 116th Congress on family separation policies in regard to immigration enforcement. According to testimony from the Inspector General’s Office at HHS, Ann Maxwell, “…the total number of children separated from a parent or guardian by U.S. immigration authorities and

CR Extends Funding to Mid-February

Late Friday, the parts of government that were unfunded were extended through February 15. The continuing resolution (CR) maintains funding at 2018 levels so there are really two issues to be resolved: what level of final funding for the seven appropriations bills in question and the fate of the wall/security issues. There has been a

CWLA Reaches Out to Freshman Class

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

Fresh Tracks Program for Young People

Tessa Buttram and Kylie Hunter On Thursday, January 17, 2019, the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute held a forum on Youth-Led Organizing and Civic Engagement in the Outdoors. The Fresh Tracks program convened leaders to share their experience using the outdoors as a platform to build leadership skills, learn about and

Home Visiting Organization Briefs New Congress

On Tuesday, January 8 at the Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives (ASTHI) held one of the first briefings on Capitol Hill for the new Congress. The focus of the briefing was to explain to members of Congress—including many of the new members—what research demonstrates when it comes to home visiting program. The

New Congress Takes Over

The 116th Congress officially began their first session on Thursday, January 3, 2019. As expected, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) returned as Speaker of the House for the new Democratic Majority and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returned as the Senate Majority Leader. For Speaker Pelosi, she now becomes the first woman and only the second person

Budget Impasse Starts to Have Impact

This week is likely to see the first full effects of the partial government shutdown although for over 800,000 workers that has been felt since December 21, 2018. On Friday after a reportedly contentious meaning between Congressional Democrats and the President, Mr. Trump proclaimed that the government shutdown could go on for “months or even

Sesame Street Addresses Family Homelessness

Shaquita Ogletree The PBS children’s show, Sesame Street is now addressing homelessness. Muppet Lily storyline includes the 7-year-old facing homelessness, and on Thursday, December 13 the Sesame Street in Communities held a forum to discuss its newest initiative, family homelessness. The forum consisted of panel experts LaShawn Haye, Project Hope Alliance, Kate Barrand, Horizons for

House Democrats Select Leadership

The House of Representative continued to work on their leadership selection for the new Congress. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) came a step closer to securing the speakership when the new Congress starts on January 3, 2019. She was approved by the Democratic caucus but technically the entire House selects the next Speaker. That requires

Value prop about becoming a member