On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, the House of Representatives passed HR 1620, the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, in a vote of 244-172. This legislation protects and provides resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse. With the pandemic and economic crisis increasing the risks of abuse and the barriers to safety for
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, the Children’s Bureau released guidance on implementing funds appropriated by The Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act, included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act that passed in December 2020 by Congress. The Program Instruction, ACYF-CB-PI-21-04, provides guidance and instructions for the John H. Chafee Foster Care Programs for Successful Transition to
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure has a lot in it that directly and indirectly addresses the impact of this year-long pandemic. It includes several issues that have received increased focus because of this past year’s struggles (for example, the racial and regional inequities within the economy and health care system). There are limited added funds specific
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the Child Poverty Reduction Act (H.R. 1588/ S. 643), which commits to cutting child poverty in half in 10 years, just as the pandemic pushes child poverty toward record levels. The legislation also creates national, evidence-based benchmarks and monitoring
After an initial delaying tactic by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WS) that called for a reading of the bill throughout Thursday, the Senate moved on the American Rescue Plan on Friday morning. A CWLA description of the still-changing package can be found here. Earlier in the week, the Senate Democratic leadership was negotiating various alterations from the
Last week, the Health and Human Service (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report confirming that HHS's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) cannot ensure that all children who have been abused or neglected have court representation during judicial proceedings. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) mandates that a State
While the Senate has acted slowly on filling the HHS Secretary position two months after Xavier Becerra’s nomination by President Biden, important lower-level non-Senate confirmation positions are being filled. Last week the Senate Finance Committee split 14 to 14 on sending Xavier Becerra’s nomination to become the next Secretary of HHS. The tie means
In addition to the Children’s Bureau, other critical appointments included Katie Hamm, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development; Dr. Bernadine Futrell, Director Office of Head Start; Cindy Huang, Director Office of Refugee Resettlement; and Dr. Lanikque Howard, Director Office of Community Services. Hamm has a lengthy resume in the child care arena.
On Tuesday, March 2, 2021, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted an event on child allowances, presenting an array of arguments for and against, including conversations on welfare reform. The Biden Administration, House Democrats, and Republican Senator Mitt Romney have child allowance proposals that address child poverty in America with different measures. Senator Romney (R-UT)
Last week, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) held their first Project THRIVE Policy Briefing of 2021. Project THRIVE is a collaborative, national campaign to support LGBTQ youth. During the briefing, HRC highlighted the Equality Act’s advances while calling attention to the attacks against the Transgender community occurring in State Legislatures. On February 25, the