On Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing entitled ‘Child Care and Preschool: Cutting Costs for Working Families.’ The hearing centered around how to provide affordable childcare to families. Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) and Democrats advocated for the proposal included in President Biden’s Build Back Better package, which would expand the
The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University has released its newest monthly report on child poverty, finding that 3.4 million more children were in poverty in February 2022 than in December 2021, when families were still receiving the monthly Child Tax Credit payments. Monthly poverty remained elevated in February. Child poverty rates
On Monday, March 8, 2022, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), along with U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking for information to determine what additional resources states and territories need to ensure children in foster care
In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) conducted the School Food Authority (SFA) Survey on Supply Chain Disruptions to better understand the impact on school nutrition programs. The survey found that 92 percent of schools reported experiencing challenges due to supply chain disruptions. The most frequently cited challenges include
On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, the White House Office of Public Engagement hosted a webinar on the one-year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan, highlighting the role of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit in providing relief. During the webinar, the floor was
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein, and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Mobility Carmel Martin hosted a conversation with parents and their children at the White House to discuss their struggles with finding and affording childcare
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of Black Americans who lack medical insurance has fallen significantly with the percentage of Black Americans who were uninsured decreasing by 8 percentage points from 2011 to 2019. Unfortunately, when compared to White populations, percentages of Black Americans uninsured are still comparatively high. Further, this
On Tuesday, February 15th, 2022, the full Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part II- Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Care,” which continued the conversation and efforts of Congress to address the growing mental health crisis. CWLA previously reported on part one of this series. The witnesses called to testify
On Thursday, February 17th, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held an investigative hearing on ‘Americans in Need: Responding to the National Mental Health Crisis.’ The Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, making it a key committee in any significant effort to enact behavioral health
On Thursday, February 17, 2022, after some delaying tactics by a few Senators, the Senate did give final approval to a new CR that extends funding until March 11, 2022. The hope is that March 11, deadline will allow completion of the 12 FY 2022 appropriations bills. The appropriations leadership has been very tight-lipped on