On August 11, HHS issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on state child welfare information systems. Under the NPRM, HHS proposes to revise the regulations for the Statewide and Tribal Automated Child Welfare Information System—sometimes referred to as SACWIS. SACWIS, extended in 2012 to cover tribes, is the information system and technology that
On Wednesday, August 5, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee introduced the Family Stability and Kinship Care Act, S 1964 with 7 additional cosponsors for the Senate Finance Committee. The legislation had been circulated as a draft in the late spring and Wyden received feedback from more than 60
Last week the State Department released the 2015 Trafficking in Person Report. The report, that grades all countries under four levels, is a result of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The report tracks human trafficking of all ages both through forced labor and sex trafficking. The United States assessed itself as a Tier I
The growing demand to make significant reforms and changes to federal criminal justice laws gathered a powerful head of steam last week after a major effort by President Obama and a number of bipartisan congressional comments. There is a growing consensus starting with the President and including Republicans, Democrats, liberals and conservatives to address the
On Wednesday, July 15 the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing on a reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. One of the most significant factors that was clear at the hearing was the bipartisan tone of the discussion. Both sides expressed a willingness to work
Last week Congress returned for the remainder of their summer session with votes and debates on education and uncertainty on other key issues including the budget. The Senate began what is expected to be a two week debate on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the House voted on their bill
On Wednesday the House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee will hold a hearing on reauthorization of TANF in what could be a serious effort to reauthorize the block grant. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was last reauthorized for a full five years in 2006 with a series of yearly and monthly
Last month key Republican leaders, including leaders from the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee, introduced legislation and tough language to restrict the Administration’s implementation of new regulations of state child support enforcement practices. S.1525 and H.R. 2688 would prohibit HHS (the Secretary) from issuing a final rule making changes to the
Last week CWLA joined others in the launch and announcement of the Voices of Youth Count campaign. The Voices of Youth Count is led by Chapin Hall in collaboration with CWLA and other partners across the country. Its goal is to have both a reliable national estimate of youth homelessness and a clearer picture of
Last week was a historic week for the U.S. Supreme Court and on Thursday June 25, the Supreme Court issued one of its most anticipated decisions of the term with a 6 to 3 rejection of the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The Court in King V Burwell rejected the challenge by the