On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, the House of Representatives passed HR 1620, the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, in a vote of 244-172. This legislation protects and provides resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse. With the pandemic and economic crisis increasing the risks of abuse and the barriers to safety for
On Thursday, March 18, 2021, the House of Representatives voted 228 to 197 for HR 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. The legislation is actually two immigration-related bills, with one dealing with young people seeking citizenship and a second bill dealing with farmworkers provisions. The legislation’s main feature is to allow certain young people and
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, the Children’s Bureau released guidance on implementing funds appropriated by The Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act, included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act that passed in December 2020 by Congress. The Program Instruction, ACYF-CB-PI-21-04, provides guidance and instructions for the John H. Chafee Foster Care Programs for Successful Transition to
The Children’s Bureau released the program instructions, ACYF-CB-PI-21-05, for IV-E agencies authorizing programmatic flexibilities from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, for Kinship Navigator Programs. Currently, none of the kinship navigator program models have received an evidence-based standard of practice from the IV-E Clearinghouse, and agencies have not been able to draw down IV-E prevention
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure has a lot in it that directly and indirectly addresses the impact of this year-long pandemic. It includes several issues that have received increased focus because of this past year’s struggles (for example, the racial and regional inequities within the economy and health care system). There are limited added funds specific
On Tuesday, March 9, 2021, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing entitled “Examining Our COVID-19 Response: An Update from the Frontlines.” Chairwoman Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) highlighted over half a million lives lost and 29 million infected across the country. She also discussed the impact the pandemic is
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the Child Poverty Reduction Act (H.R. 1588/ S. 643), which commits to cutting child poverty in half in 10 years, just as the pandemic pushes child poverty toward record levels. The legislation also creates national, evidence-based benchmarks and monitoring
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
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,