Congress is back. The long congressional summer break provided time for several webinars and conference calls for what is shaping up as two sides on the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456, Conference Report 114-628). Congress left in July with several senators placing “holds” against moving the legislation by voice vote.
During the summer break Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and their offices reached out through a conference calls to supporters and other stakeholders encouraging them to promote the bill while Congress was out of session. Also holding webinars along with power point presentations were a coalition of California groups including state,
It is unclear how long Congress will be in session this month but many expect that the session will not extend into October despite a calendar that sets October as adjournment date. Front and center will be the appropriations for FY 2017 which starts on October 1. There is little possibility that Congress will enact
Some critics of the Families First Prevention Services Act have recently argued that the proposed bill does not truly provide prevention services. In part this depends on how the individual defines prevention. CWLA views the Families First Act as providing an important part of the child welfare continuum, intervention services that can prevent placement into
The two Title IV-B programs along with the adoption and kinship incentive fund expire on October 1, 2016 and so they need to be reauthorized either through the Families First Act or or another measure which could include a short term extensions included any CR. A CR however may just extend the program for a
Monday, August 22 represents something of an anniversary. It will be twenty years since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, PL 104-193, more commonly referred to as “TANF.” TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) converted the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which had provided an
A new study by the Urban Institute, The Cost to States of Not Expanding Medicaid indicates that states could leverage a significant amount of funding by expanding health care services through the ACA while expanding insurance coverage by 4 to 5 million people. The ACA expanded Medicaid coverage to people at 138 percent of poverty.
More than 550 attendees at the CWLA Conference were welcomed by opening remarks of Commissioner Rafael Lopez, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), HHS. Lopez offered praise to the many participants made up of state and local agencies and service providers. In his first day comments he said that what was most important and
Talking about the need for greater access to needed services for families, on both Monday and Tuesday’s plenary sessions Commissioner Rafael Lopez noted the significance of the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456) (Conference Report 114-628). Lopez highlighted in his Tuesday luncheon remarks how the current opioid crisis is not new but just different
The “CARA” legislation under title five includes amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) regarding a plan of safe care for infants exposed to substances. It does not reauthorize CAPTA but amends current provisions around a plan of safe care. The plan of safe care for infants requires a state that receives