Legislation

Congress Continues Path Toward Appropriations

Last week Congress continued on a path that would allow some appropriations bills to be signed into law by October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Last week Republican leadership met with the President, appointed some House-Senate conferees and continued to negotiate. All of this was done with the President sending some mixed messages.

Administration Seeks Elimination of Child Immigrant Protections

On Friday, September 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a federal register notice that proposes, through the regulation process, to amend a court agreement relating to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of children detained at the U.S. border. The notice, Apprehension, Processing,

CWLA Urges Congressional Action on JJDPA Reauthorization

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 5, CWLA sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging the passage of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA). CWLA joins the Act 4 Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) campaign in circulating a letter a day urging Congress to act on the JJDPA reauthorization soon. Act4JJ is composed of

Panel Focuses on DACA Extensions and Protections

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) hosted a Capitol Hill briefing featuring immigration and education experts to discuss the impact of the Administration’s efforts rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has had on students and teachers over the past year. DACA was created under President Obama in 2012 and on September

Help with Loan Forgiveness and Social Workers

Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) is promoting one-time funding that can assist social workers seeking education loan forgiveness. The temporary funding acts as a patch for some who qualify for loan forgiveness under a ten-year plan that covers some workers (including social workers working within child welfare) if they have paid on their loans over the

Opioids Bills Still Waiting

The Senate has been struggling to move their opiods legislation, but the hope is it will finally move this week. When they do its passage is to set the stage for a mega-negotiation with the House. Back in the spring there had been a hope that there would be movement on another opiods abuse bill

Agriculture Bill Being Negotiated

A House-Senate Conference Agriculture Committee was meeting last week to negotiate differences between the two Agriculture reauthorization bills. Agriculture bills today focus mainly on nutrition programs as well as farm support programs. The House bill approved their farm bill with SNAP/food stamp restrictions by a vote of 213-211, HR 2. Unlike the Senate bill, the

The Intersection Between Medicaid and Child Welfare

Shaquita Ogletree On Thursday, September 6, 2018, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth along with First Focus hosted a congressional briefing on the Intersection of Medicaid and Child Welfare. The briefing discussed the importance of Medicaid coverage for current and former foster youth and highlighted the need to fix a glitch in Medicaid regulation affecting

Senate Adopts Defense-Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations

On Thursday, August 23, the Senate passed H.R. 6157 an $857 billion appropriations package that combines the Defense Department appropriations with the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 85 to 7. Now the bill will likely go to a House-Senate conference committee where they will have to act fast before

Help With Loan Forgiveness and Social Workers

Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) is promoting one-time funding that can assist social workers seeking education loan forgiveness. The temporary funding acts as a patch for some who qualify for loan forgiveness under a ten-year plan that covers some workers (including social workers working within child welfare) if they have paid on their loans over the

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