By Thursday evening, August 6, 2020, some senators were leaving town as an agreement between the White House and Congressional Democrats bogged down with no clear path forward. A chart of some of the differences between the House of Representatives HEROES Act passed on May 15, and the Senate HEAL Act (Republican description) introduced July 27, can
On Friday, August 7, 2020, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) and Congresswoman Jackie Walorski introduced the, “Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act.” The legislation would provide funding for youth transitioning from foster care ($350 million for Chafee Independent Living and $50 million for education and training vouchers). It would allow states that are
Last week 163 Florida mayors, through the Florida League of Mayors, asked Congress for emergency help addressing the pandemic and the recession. In the letter dated July 30, 2020, the mayors said, “Absent direct federal assistance, we will be forced to cut our workforce, exacerbating the economic and public health crisis we face…many local business owners
A recent survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation revealed that in response to the coronavirus pandemic, black youth detained in juvenile facilities were released at a far slower rate than their white peers. Black children are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system, and this report highlights another disparity for children of color. Black youth are
On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, the state of Missouri voted to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). By a vote of 53 percent, Missouri citizens became the sixth state since 2017, forcing their state legislatures and governors to expand health insurance coverage under the ACA. Missouri became the sixth Republican-led state where
At one point last week, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, dropped a suggestion that maybe an FY 2021 appropriations bill could be attached to a final COVID-19 bill number 5. A final bill would take a lot of consensus on spending levels using the old budget caps. It would seem more
On Monday, July 27, 2020, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released his party’s counter to the House of Representatives HEROES Act. The rest of last week left the impression that Senate Republicans are not sure about the next steps. The HEALS Act, as it has been labeled, is actually eight different bills from different members
While the Senate COVID-19 bill provides minimal state supplements, it does provide some funding through the Senate Finance Committee bill and the Senate Appropriations bill for limited child welfare programs. Funding includes an appropriation of $75 million through the Child Welfare Services (Title IV-B part 1),$50 million for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevent (CB-CAP) funds and $65 million for Family
There are several priorities CWLA holds for the next package that reach beyond “child welfare” but are critical to families and to future trends for child welfare caseloads. These can be as broad as tax rebates (that need to reach families that adopt, foster parents, kinship care and youth that transition from foster care) but
On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, New York U.S. District Judge George Daniels blocked the Trump Administration's new "public charge" immigration restriction. The Judge's ruling was based on how the Administration's new rule prevents some immigrants access to critical COVID-19 services. Public charge is a test applied to immigrants who the government believes will rely