Prevention

Rosa DeLauro Champions Child Care Expansion at Baby Caucus

On Thursday, February 7, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, co-chair of the Baby Caucus and Chair of the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee sponsored and moderated a Capitol Hill briefing on the State of Child Care in America. DeLauro offered opening remarks focusing in on how support for expanded child care has grown since the early days of

CLASP Report Details Child Care Expansions and Hurdles

Appropriately timed, CLASP has released a new analysis of state efforts to implement the new regulations and funding under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). New CCDBG regulations are a result of a new authorization enacted in 2014. The 2014 reauthorization was the first one since 1996. The regulations and law instituted new

House Committee Raises Concerns Over Family Separation

On Thursday February 7, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held their first hearing in the 116th Congress on family separation policies in regard to immigration enforcement. According to testimony from the Inspector General’s Office at HHS, Ann Maxwell, “…the total number of children separated from a parent or guardian by U.S. immigration authorities and

Guide Released on Assistance for LGBTQ Students

GLSEN has released a new school guide and national survey of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists (SMHP). The Supporting Safe and Healthy Schools for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Students finds: The guide includes results from a survey of mental health professionals regarding issues dealing with the student LGBTQ population. Survey categories include:

House Passes Bass Bill: Putting Trafficking Victims First Act

Last week, H.R. 507, the Put Trafficking Victims First Act, sponsored by Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA) passed the House of Representatives by a near unanimous margin. The legislation addresses a need for expanded victim services, improved data-gathering on the prevalence and trends in human trafficking, and effective mechanisms to identify and work with victims in

Child Maltreatment Report Published

HHS has released the annual child abuse report: Child Maltreatment 2017. The numbers are similar to past years. For FY 2017, there are an estimated 674,000 victims of child abuse and neglect. The victim rate is 9.1 victims per 1,000 children in the population. The numbers are like the previous year—2016 when 676,000 victims. Much

White House Drug Czar Releases Plan to Promote Broad Anti-Drug Strategy

James Carroll, Director of National Drug Control Policy, or “Drug Czar” released the Administration’s National Drug Control Strategy on Thursday, January 31. In announcing the report Mr. Carroll says that the strategy will require “ongoing efforts with a holistic approach. Families, communities, faith organizations, education, and mass media…” in supporting the process. The strategy is

Finance Chair Seeks Information From Olympic Committee on Sexual Abuse

On January 22, Senate Finance Committee Chair, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to the head of the United States Olympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland asking what actions the Committee has taken to prevent future instances of sexual abuse of Olympic athletes. The letter is a follow up to last year’s congressional action in response

Heath Care Updates

While there was a slowdown in action on health care in Washington due to the shutdown there were some debates taking place in some states as far as the Affordable Care Act. In Idaho opponents to expanding Medicaid coverage under the ACA went to the state Supreme Court to overturn a 2018 voter initiative that

CWLA Reaches Out to Freshman Class

This week CWLA reached out to the more than 100 new members of the 116th Congress with a child welfare background package of information including Investing in All of Child Welfare. This piece argues for investing in ALL of child welfare services: Child welfare’s continuum of care includes prevention of child abuse before it happens

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