The Senate spent last week debating S 178, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act but ran into major problems. S 178 attempts to establish new funding through the use of the Crime Victims Fund to provide services to victims of all human trafficking (not limited to sex trafficking), it also creates greater law enforcement
On Tuesday, the House, absent much debate, passed an appropriations bill that will fund the Department of Homeland Security through the rest of the fiscal year. The action to adopt a “clean” bill—without any restrictions on the President’s executive order regarding immigration—was adopted 257 to 167 with Democrats providing the bulk of the vote (182
The Senate HELP Committee continues its discussions of a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Reports are that HELP Committee Chair Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) would like a vote by April but the Senate will be out of session from March 28 through April 12 so in a best case scenario they
On Tuesday February 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the issue of human trafficking and two bills that approach the issue beyond what was debated within child welfare in 2014 through amendments to child welfare law. Under the hearing title, Human Trafficking in the United States: Protecting the Victim, senators focused attention on providing services,
Congress returns this week through the end of next month. Front and center will be the expiration of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Funding will expire at the end of this month if the Congress can’t come up with a deal to extend it. The House bill would tie any funding to provisions
Some in Washington are advocating the elimination of SSBG as a way to fund child welfare services. The theory is that eliminating the $1.7 billion in SSBG dollars might free up some funds for child welfare and perhaps also cut federal spending at the same time. Such calculations however ignore the fact that SSBG funds
One of the first human service issues to be taken up by Congress will be education. The Senate HELP Committee has been in deep discussions with the Chairman, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) hoping to move quickly on a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the next month. The last time
On Tuesday Capitol Hill was also the setting for a briefing on the reintroduction of the Family-based Foster Care Services Act of 2015. The legislation, S 429 and HR 835, would clarify in Medicaid policy the definition of therapeutic foster care that is consistent and could be applied through all the states. TFC is an
A Tuesday, February 10 congressional briefing entitled, Reducing Overreliance on Psychotropics and Increasing Use of Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Youth in Foster Care focused attention on the need for stronger treatment options for children in foster care. The briefing was cosponsored by First Focus, Voice for Adoption and the State Policy Advocacy Reform Center.
Last week, not too far off from the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved HR 5. The vote followed party lines when it passed by a vote of 21 to 16. There were no hearings on the legislation with