The budget proposes an optional block grant of Title IV-E foster care funding that could be spent for any services now funded under foster care, adoption assistance or Child Welfare Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families. As pointed out in earlier CWLA analysis, Child Welfare & Block Grants, the 1995 child welfare block grant
Once again SSBG is targeted for elimination and without any doubt, such an elimination would hit child welfare in ways big and small as well as many other human service programs including those that effect domestic violence and elder abuse victims. SSBG provided 11 percent of federal child welfare spending in 2014 (Child Trends Survey
At the start of a Wednesday forum, sponsored by The Hill newspaper dealing with opioids (see below) one of the opening speakers was Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Before sponsors delved into the topic at hand the reporter snuck a question, how is the Senate coming on the DACA debate? Senator Whitehouse described his feeling of
The adoption incentive was created by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 and was expanded to some kinship placements because of the 2014 reauthorization. States are awarded if they increase adoptions from foster care over the previous year. That incentive also includes now increased placements into Title IV-E kinship placements. The last
On Wednesday, February 14 of The Hill newspaper sponsored another forum on “Americas Opioid Epidemic.” Some of the featured speakers included Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Congressman David Joyce (R-OH). In addition, participants heard from Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Senator Whitehouse, who has played a prominent role in crafting some of the recent legislation around both
Shaquita Ogletree The Department of Justice FY 2019 budget request includes $229.5 million for the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) Juvenile Justice Programs. Funding for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention has declined to the lowest levels due to drastic budget cuts in recent years. Funding levels in recent years have strained programs to a fraction
On Friday, February 9, the House gave final approval to a two-year budget deal that includes significant increases to defense spending, some increased funding in key priorities such as child care and opioids, extends the home visiting program and adopts the Families First Act from 2016. The latter had some modifications (see below). The deal
The Family First Act made it into the CR/budget agreement after the House inserted it in their slimmed down CR proposal. The Senate picked up the package. It is close to the version that had been considered in late 2016 with some additional behind the scenes modifications added into the final version. It includes the
Many members of Congress (especially Democrats) voted against the CR/budget agreement because it lacked a firm commitment by congressional leadership (and the President for that matter) on action on DACA recipients. Shortly before the vote on the CR, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WS) said, “I can’t speak to what our rule is going to look like;
As part of the CR/budget deal, the child care community had one of their most significant victories since the creation of the CCDBG in 1990. Congress still has to finalize the appropriations, so there could still be challenges, but the deal explicitly included a $5.8 billion increase in child care funding with an expected split