The Senate gave an ok to HR 4378, a Continuing Resolution (CR) to provide funding for FY 2020 from October 1 through November 21, 2019. Both Houses will be off for the next two weeks for the combination of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Columbus Day. It is hoped that the additional time will allow
Capitol Hill is working on a bipartisan deal that is intended to assist states to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation would give states an added $500 million in child welfare funds, allowing states to spend more flexibly on the three categories of evidence-based services and create a guarantee of
On Friday, September 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance on whether or not the new classification of Quality Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) will fall under the Medicaid classification as an Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMDs). There has been great concern that the new QRTP standards would cause these same child
The Senate unveiled their Labor-HHS-Education appropriations legislation last Wednesday, September 18, 2019 and it shorts human services severely. Gone are the increases for child care, Head Start, CAPTA state grants, CB-CAP child abuse prevention funds and many other vital human services. While there was always an understanding that many of the House increases could not
On Tuesday, September 17, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HA) introduced the Protect American Values Act that would restrict the Administration from using federal funds to implement its new “public charge” rule scheduled to go into effect on October 15, 2019. On August 14, 2019 the Administration published a new final rule to expand the definition of
On Tuesday, September 17, the Urban Institute released their 13th annual Kids’ Share report, Kids’ Share 2019: Analyzing Federal Expenditures on Children, on federal expenditures on children through 2018 and future projections. The report and a panel discussed federal spending on children younger than 19 from 1960 to 2018 and makes future projections through 2029.
CWLA continues to engage with committee staff and member offices on a pathway forward to address the proposed legislation. At this time, it is critical that we unite in our message – the Family First Transition and Support Act must pass as a comprehensive package, including the “de-link” from the 1996 AFDC eligibility requirements for
On Tuesday, September 10, First Focus on Children released the 13th annual Children’s Budget 2019 publication, a comprehensive analysis of how kids and families have been faring in the federal budget over the past five years. As child poverty remains high, the children’s share of total federal spending declined between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal
When Congress left with a two-year budget deal for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 it looked like they would be able to finish most of the FY 2020 appropriations in September with perhaps a few weeks of a continuing resolution (CR) to finish up. That possibility crashed last Tuesday shortly after Senate Republican unveiled their
The 2010 census missed more than 10% of all children under age 5 in the U.S. When we miss young children in the census, it has serious consequences for them, their families, their communities and our nation – with many of those consequences lasting for at least 10 years. The U.S. Census Bureau needs adequate