The Child Welfare League of America led by President and CEO of CWLA Christine James-Brown brought a delegation of child welfare agencies to Cuba to exchange information and approaches regarding child and family well-being. “We are excited to learn about the resilience of families and how they manage without a child welfare system in place,”
In June the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passed FY 2016 bills under the current spending caps. The House bill avoided some of the controversial cuts of the recent past but not all. It de-funds programs to carry out the Affordable Care Act and eliminates funding for Title X family planning, eliminates some 20 Department
With limited action last week beyond the Pope’s visit to Washington and Congress, the status of a government shutdown looked less clear until Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) surprise announcement that he will be leaving both his position and Congress at the end of October. Signals coming from the House are that the more conservative elements
The poverty rate in 2014 changed little from the previous Census data according to the annual release by the Census Bureau. The income report was released on Wednesday, September 16 and it showed that In 2014, the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent with 46.7 million people in poverty. The poverty rate for children under age
Congress has approximately 7 legislative session days left before we reach the end of the fiscal year on September 30. It is not clear when and how the two houses will move on a continuing resolution (CR). Congress will have no legislative days during the Jewish holidays and the Pope’s visit and speech to Congress
With Congress likely to be discussing appropriations into December there is time for a number of issues and in some cases Congress will have to act. One possibility that was mentioned in early August by Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is a mark-up of child welfare legislation. That is still uncertain and contingent on
Once Congress gets beyond appropriations this month they have a number of other areas that either must be addressed or could receive action: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). TANF must be reauthorized or at least extended beyond September 30. Earlier this summer there were some positive bipartisan developments regarding a five year extension.
On September 9, the GAO issued a report, Collaboration Among Federal Agencies Would Be Helpful as Governments Explore New Financing Mechanisms that examined the use of social impact bonds and their potential as well as where the federal government can play a roll. Social Impact Bonds are a concept designed to bring together government, non-profit
One of the issues for the fall session is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) or (since the last reauthorization in 2002) more commonly referred to as the No Child Left Behind Act. Both the Senate and House have passed very different versions. In negotiating their differences during a Conference Committee,
On August 7, Associate Commission Joo Yeung Chang, announced her departure from her position as head of the Children’s Bureau. She will be leaving on September 3. President Obama appointed Commissioner Chang to head the Children’s Bureau in September 2013 and she is the only person to hold that position in the Obama Administration. The