Research

Energy and Commerce Committee on Opioids

On Wednesday the House Energy and Commerce Committee took its turn at focusing on the Opioids epidemic.  This and other recent Congressional hearings are not without irony since they come against a backdrop of efforts to weaken the ACA and Medicaid which have increased access to critical substance use and mental health services.  The twin

GAO: HHS Action Needed on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Earlier this month, the GAO issued a report, Federal Action Needed to Address Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. The GAO report was the result of a House bill included in last year’s CARA Act passed last year.  The GAO’s conclusion: “The rising opioid crisis has caused a significant increase in the number of infants born and diagnosed

HELP Committee on Opioids: For Every Overdose There are 60 Addicts

Last Thursday the Senate HELP Committee focused on the topic of spreading opioid addiction and what current Administration leaders and departments were doing about it. One of the starkest statistics (from the CDC) is that for every opioid related overdose death, there are another 60 addicts out there. The witnesses were Food and Drug Administration

Home Visiting Approved by House, Waiting on Senate

Now that the House has acted on their version of a home visiting reauthorization (the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824)), and the Senate has their version of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, (the Strong Families Act of 2017), advocates are strategizing how to extend

Home Visiting Approved by House, Waiting on Senate

On Tuesday, September 16, the House passed the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824).  Support was not overwhelming at 214 to 209.  The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, would be reauthorized for 5 years at its current funding level of $400 million, and include many other

CWLA Comments To Commission on Opioids

Last week, CWLA submitted comments to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The comments focus on how the Commission needs to include certain actions that can help address the drug epidemic’s impact on child welfare. On July 31, the Commission, Chaired by Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) released an interim report

Home Visiting Gets Boost from Senate

On Tuesday, September 19, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the “Strong Families Act of 2017,” reauthorizing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). The legislation was also co-sponsored by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). It

Home Visiting  Moves In Committee on Partisan Vote

On Wednesday morning and evening, the House Ways and Means Committee debated and passed a re-authorization of the home visiting program. The legislation, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, named the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824) passed on a party-line vote. Despite

New Census Data Shows Some Progress on Poverty, Health Care in 2016

On Wednesday, September 13, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data on poverty and health care coverage for the year 2016.  According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of children in the U.S. were living in poverty in 2016.  While that is a slight improvement over the previous year children continue

House Home Visiting Vote Possible this Week

The House Ways and Means Committee may meet this Wednesday to mark up a bill to reauthorize the home visiting program.  Two House bills have been introduced to extend the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program which runs out on September 30.  The Republican bill (The Increasing Opportunity through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act)

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