On Tuesday June 4, the House of Representatives passed HR 6, the Dream and Promise Act by a vote of 237 yes votes and 187 nays. The vote totals included all Democrats and 7 Republicans. The legislation was voted out of committee on May 22 shortly before the Memorial Day break. It includes protection
On Tuesday, June 4, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth sponsored briefing on Right to Counsel in Child Abuse and Neglect Dependency. The focus of this meeting was to educate individuals about the importance of high-quality legal representation for children and parents. The five panelists included Frank Utomo and Levi Zwick-Tapley, former foster care
As Congress returned on Monday, June 3, one of their first actions was to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant until the end of this fiscal year. The vote was not without opposition with 357 yes votes to 55 no votes (all Republicans).The extension which now has to go to the
On Monday, May 20, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2480 – Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by voice vote and now it heads to the Senate. It proposes robust funding increases for states and local communities to implement strategies and programs that prevents child abuse is critical to strengthen families and
On Wednesday May 22, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and Congressional Baby Caucus sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing on “Supporting Foster Families in the Time of Opioids” The focus of the briefing was infant-toddler court team models that have shown great success in helping families remain together with their infants and toddlers. The four
While there is much debate in the child welfare world regarding the fate of expiring waivers for approximately half the states, a more significant source of state flexibility continues to be under assault in the Administrations’ budget: the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). While representatives of the administration tout their current budget proposal that would
The Family First Transition and Support Act (HR 2702/S 1376) bipartisan cosponsored by Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE), Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Jim Langevin (D-RI), and Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM) in the House and sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate.
On Wednesday, May 22, the House Judiciary “marked-up” or debated HR 6 an immigration reform bill. The legislation was split into three bills for Committee action purposes: H.R. 2820, the “Dream Act of 2019”; H.R. 2821, the “American Promise Act of 2019”; and H.R. 549, the “Venezuela TPS Act of 2019”. In March the DREAM
The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed regulation would prohibit “mixed status families” from living in public and other subsidized housing. Mixed status families are households that include members who are eligible and others who are ineligible for housing assistance based on their immigrant status. Currently, HUD allows families to live together in subsidized
On Thursday, May 23, AEI hosted, “After the fanfare: Family First one year later,” to discuss the challenges and opportunities of implementing the historic legislation – the Family First Prevention Services Act by October 1, 2019. Panel of experts included Naomi Schaefer Riley from AEI, Sean Hughes from Social Change Partners, Mark Mecum from Ohio