On Thursday, March 11, 2021, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing to discuss COVID-19 and the mental health and substance use crisis. Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) opened with remarks about the pandemic and how it has increased anxiety and depression, worsened mental health,
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
Fostering Families Today and the National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) hosted a webinar on Thursday, March 4, to discuss recent findings from a survey they conducted. This survey was created to discover how foster families are coping through the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 300 foster parents in the U.S. were surveyed during January and February 2021,
On Monday, March 1, 2021, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, Casey Family Programs, Children’s Defense Fund, and Generations United hosted a webinar presenting a new tool that lays out the necessary steps for effective implementation of the kinship provisions under the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First Act) which includes kinship
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)
On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, FosterClub, Juvenile Law Center with California Youth Connection, the John Burton Advocates for Youth, ACTION Ohio, and the Ohio Youth Advisory Board hosted a webinar on how to impact the implementation of the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act. Specifically, the organizations provided tips for getting implementation moving in
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
Senate Democrats are hopeful they can complete action on the COVID-19 relief/reconciliation legislation sometime late this week. The goal is to have a package on the President’s desk before extended unemployment runs out on March 14, 2021. There was a major setback for advancing a minimum wage increase as part of the package on
On Monday, February 22, 2021, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awarded the $344 million in additional Chafee program awards to states and participating territories and tribes. Attached is an allotment table showing the amount of the awards. The additional ETV awards and other supplemental grants have not yet been released but will be