May is National Foster Care Month and as a result there have been a number of events on and around Capitol Hill focusing attention on child welfare in an effort to highlight issues around out of home care. On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will add to the focus by holding a hearing. It will
The House is starting to debate and vote on some of the 12 appropriations bills now that a final budget resolution has been adopted and spending ceilings are in place. That process may be long and challenging as this week’s appropriations debate on the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and other agencies (THUD) legislation was
On Monday, May 5, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee released a “discussion draft” of legislation that would invest new money into child welfare services through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The discussion draft would build on the Administration’s FY 2016 budget request that seeks to expand
The Child Welfare League of America is part of a number of groups led by First Focus Campaign for Children, along with Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA), Generations United (GU), the National Foster Care Coalition, and Voice for Adoption (VFA) circulating an advocacy sign-on letter urging support for the Administration’s FY
The Senate gave final approval to a concurrent budget resolution when 51 Republican Senators approved the measure last Tuesday. The resolution allows for two significant actions: it allows Congress to spend more on the Defense Department while keeping a cap on domestic spending and it allows for reconciliation. Although it is not law it is
The concurrent resolution is binding in regard to how Congress can use the reconciliation process, although they could decide not to pass a reconciliation bill. Under the agreement it allows reconciliation but narrows it to fewer committees then what the House had proposed. Like the Senate resolution, it directs the Finance Committee and the HELP
The CWLA 2015 National Conference took place in Washington DC with over 60 workshops and additional super sessions, plenary speakers and recognition of various champions. The Conference was also the setting for the official release of the 2015 CWLA Legislative Agenda. CWLA members went to Capitol Hill emphasizing three topics: Protect Vital Human Services in
CWLA recognized three members of Congress for their advocacy and work over the past year. Senator Patty Murray was recognized on Monday as a Congressional Champion for her on going work on behalf of children. As the Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
Republican negotiators reached final budget resolution as described here on the House Budget Committee site. Last week there was some back and forth between House and Senate Republicans about some spending issues but all the hold-ups were cleared and by week’s end it was passed by the House by a vote of 226-197 late Thursday.
In light of last week’s hearings, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have reintroduced a bill from the last Congress that would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The legislation carries over some of the reforms included in that legislation which was introduced at the end of last year. It