Last week the Chronicle of Social Change released a new report and survey, The Foster Care Housing Crisis that focused new and much needed attention on the dramatic increase in foster care placements and the challenge some states are having finding enough placements for children and youth in foster care. The report focused on capacity
The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioids Crisis released its final report on Wednesday, November 1. That wasn’t the only action or debate of the week on the topic, but it was the most significant. The Commission Final Recommendations: The report includes 56 recommendations but falls short on what they might cost
Last week the House Republicans unveiled their tax reform package, H.R 1. Since many tax credits and tax deductions were eliminated there were a few that CWLA and other advocates had hoped would be saved. The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credits did survive at a much smaller level but one that was eliminated was
On Thursday, November 2 Capitol Hill was the scene for a panel presentation on how to prevent human trafficking. The forum sponsored by the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, entitled Strategies on Preventing Human Trafficking: Research on How to Stop Trafficking Before It Starts, focused attention on the need for primary prevention. Approximately
The Education Civil Rights Alliance was announced on Thursday, November 2. The new coalition is made up of approximately 40 groups who have formed to provide resources to ensure that students not be blocked from getting an education under the education civil rights laws. The core mission is to assist students who are being denied
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced the House would vote on its legislation to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), HR 3921. That announcement drew the ire of minority Democrats. Funding for CHIP expired on September 30, and the health coverage of nearly 9 million is currently at risk. In fact Congressman McCarthy held
Patty Murray joined the leaders of education unions on Tuesday to call on Congress to pass the DREAM Act, S. 1615. The bill would offer a pathway to lawful permanent residency for an estimated 1.7 million so-called DREAMers, according to a recent analysis by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute. The DREAM Act would provide the
On Tuesday Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a new bill, S. 1964, the Child Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act of 2017. Its basic features are a de-link of Title IV-E kinship/subsidized guardianship from the AFDC eligibility, create a different and more flexible kinship care licensing standard for kinship
CWLA has endorsed H.R. 2681, Foster EITC Act, sponsored by Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL). The Davis proposal would add an important expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for youth who were in foster care on or after their 14th birthday. Currently, the EITC disadvantages former foster youth who enter the work force
Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired on September 30, and the health coverage of nearly 9 million is currently at risk. After reaching a bipartisan agreement on policy that extend CHIP for five years, due to the health care fights over repealing the ACA, attention shifted from CHIP and now due to