First Focus on Children hosted a panel on analyzing the new national 9-8-8 crisis number on October 20th, 2022. Elaine Dalpiz and Averi Akulis from First Focus on Children facilitated the session aimed at discussing the current system and necessary changes for porting 9-8-8 to the child welfare space. Elaine Dalpiz highlighted the need for
On October 21, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that it will move to expand the use of medication to treat addiction in pregnant women through a new initiative as part of the administration’s strategy to improve maternal health. “Medications to treat opioid use disorder improve birth outcomes, making it less likely newborns will be born
On October 11th, 2022, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published recommendations in the medical journal JAMA recommending screening for anxiety in children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years. These recommendations are for the screening of children and teens who are seen in primary care settings and have no symptoms. Task force members emphasized
The Biden Administration hosted the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on Wednesday, September 28th, 2022. This was the first White House Conference on these topics in more than 50 years, since the Nixon Administration, and it covered a broad range of topics in its plenary and breakout sessions, which are available on
The Biden-Harris Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on September 28, 2022. The conference can be viewed online, and the conference agenda is available here. The White House has identified five pillars that will serve as the focus for the upcoming conference, which is the first White House conference
On Tuesday, August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, marking a significant win for his administration that meets several of his campaign promises. As previously reported, this spending bill was negotiated primarily between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and focuses on climate change, healthcare,
On Sunday, August 7th, 2022, the Senate passed its historic spending bill that will address climate change, healthcare, and taxes on a strictly party-line vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the final vote to break the 50-50 tie. This reconciliation package was negotiated primarily between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe
On Wednesday, July 27th, 2022, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced that they had reached a deal on a budget reconciliation package, two weeks after negotiations on climate change fell apart. The news came as a surprise to many colleagues, as the two Senators met in secret to discuss the details and
On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing entitled, “Fighting Fentanyl: The Federal Response to a Growing Crisis.” Committee Chairperson Patty Murray (D-WA) opened the hearing by pointing out that overdose deaths, in general, continued to rise in 2021, reaching historic highs. Furthermore, she pointed out that fentanyl deaths have increased
First Focus on Children and The Education Trust cohosted a background briefing on child nutrition policy on July 26, 2022, titled, “A 101 Briefing on Child Nutrition Policy.” Commonly children of color and from low-income backgrounds suffer from high rates of food and nutrition insecurity. Furthermore, dietary diseases continue to rise among children. We heard