On Tuesday, January 28, two subcommittees of the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and the Subcommittee on Pensions and Workforce Protections conducted a hearing entitled Expecting More: Addressing America’s Maternal and Infant Health Crisis. Testimony was given by three witnesses: Stacey Stewart, CEO of March of Dimes, Nikia
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Prevention found that in 2017 there were 1,400 deaths sue to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the United States. SIDS is the leading cause of postneonatal mortality, with an overall rate of 0.39/1000 births. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported study, Concurrent prenatal drinking and smoking increases
On January 15, 2020, the Children’s Bureau released the annual child abuse and neglect report: Child Maltreatment 2018. The numbers show an increase in the rates of abuse and neglect for the first time since 2015, with infants and young children having the highest increase in child maltreatment. For the federal fiscal year 2018, there
As part of the budget deal, Congress provided the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) with some small but important increases that CWLA and the National Child Abuse Coalition sees as being part of a new recognition of CAPTA’s importance. CAPTA state grants will increase by $5 million to $90 million. Far short of
On December 13, the Boston Globe and ProPublica released their findings on the first national survey they conducted on state’s compliance with the only federal child abuse law, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The reporters found that not one state complied with all of the legal requirements. CAPTA requires states to comply
On Thursday, December 12, the Senate HELP Committee approved the reauthorizations of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (S. 2971) and the Adoption Opportunities Act (S. 2969) by voice vote. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) remarked that today, the Senate HELP Committee approval of legislation would help states prevent child abuse and ensure the
With a second continuing resolution that extended FY 2020 funding until December 20, 2019 due to expire, late Thursday Senator Richard Shelby (D-AL) and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) as respective chairs of the two appropriations committees announced a final deal on the 12 appropriations bills. How funding is divided should be released soon along with
On Wednesday, December 11, 2019, the House of Representatives passed an annual defense authorization bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA), that included landmark provision on paid family leave for federal employees. The Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (HR 1534), co-sponsored by Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and the late Chairman Elijah
A reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) S 2971 (Senator Johnny Isakson R-OK) and separate Adoption Opportunities Act Reauthorization, S 2969 (Senator Doug Jones D-AL) was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday, December 4. The bills, which will be joined together as a final package, would reauthorize the CAPTA and the
On Tuesday, November 19, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and Congresswoman Alma S. Adams (D-NC), co-chairs of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, partnered with March of Dimes and First Focus to bring attention to the significant maternal health crisis happening in America today. “Mothers in our country are more likely to die giving birth than in