On Monday, June 8, 2020, the Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, the first-ever bold, comprehensive approach to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust
The House-passed HEROES Act adopted by the House on May 15, 2020, includes significant funding under the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) that would help state and local governments address current budgetary shortfalls. SSBG has always been a significant funder of a range of child welfare services, including foster care, youth services, child protection, prevention
Last November 13, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) should be upheld. Time is running down for the Court to issue their final decisions for this session, which normally ends this month. Based on analysis written last fall, some Supreme Court observers were guessing that
On Tuesday, June 9, 2020, HHS released an additional $25 billion in relief funding to some hospitals and other health care providers. The release comes after building pressure on the Administration to release more of the $175 billion in health care relief funding that had been provided in earlier COVID-19 legislation. HHS has had great
On Tuesday, June 9, the Senate Finance Committee hearing “Unemployment Insurance During COVID-19: The CARES Act and the Role of Unemployment Insurance During the Pandemic” addressed the future and current administration of Unemployment Insurance (UI). As state governments and businesses have slowly started to gain footing during this pandemic, Congress is now faced with a
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) released the House summer schedule at the end of May. He expects a month full of appropriations and other committee action through all of June with floor votes beginning on June 30th until the July 4th break. It appears likely the House will begin committee action on appropriations starting
On Thursday, June 4, 2020, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced a companion to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) the Child Care is Essential Act that would provide $50 billion in child care funding as part of the fifth or next COVID-19 bill. CWLA has endorsed Senator Murray’s bill which is co-sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR0,
On Wednesday, June 3, 2020, Congressman Richard Neal (D-MA) announced that he was meeting with Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin on Friday on another round of COVID-19 legislation. The discussion between the two will be around the role of infrastructure spending, and it would be the Democrats' goal for this piece to be combined with
In response to a bipartisan group of Senators, national youth justice advocates, and other stakeholders urging the Justice Department to outline ways to prevent infections, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) issued disappointing guidance to state juvenile detention and correctional facilities. The guidance is counter to the CDC’s recommended public health measures
Last week, CWLA’s members urged Congress to pass another emergency supplemental bill that expands the current level of federal support for state and territorial Medicaid and child welfare programs. In the Families First COVID-19 emergency supplemental bill, Congress acted swiftly to provide a much-needed 6.2 percentage increase in the FMAP. As the pandemic increases the