The Administration has released a memo from last March that outlined how the Administration had and is implementing a strategy to undercut and weaken the ACA. The document was released after pressure by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) who blocked Administration nominations until the document was made public. The document was used by then-HHS Secretary Tom
The CHIP reauthorization is still waiting for a final resolution. Due to the most recent CBO analysis (score) a CHIP reauthorization would be significantly less and could pay for itself and perhaps some additional programs. Because of what Congress has done to the ACA, cutting families off from CHIP would not be as cheap. That
T here were White House talks on a DACA replacement last week but it was unclear what progress was made on replacing the Obama-era Executive Order (E.O) on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Democrats are making sounds that a DACA fix must be part of a deal done this month.
In case you missed it, during the December holidays, (December 18, 2017), the White House announced the appointment of Caren Harp as the new head of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) in the Justice Department. The position does not require Senate confirmation. Harp is currently a professor at Liberty University School
The CR includes a temporary patch for the CHIP program. The $2.8 billion is intended as an extension that would shore up states through March 2018. Critics question whether funding will last that long. It is expected that 2 million kids will continue coverage because of the small patch. Several states have been sending out
The House attached an earlier CHIP reauthorization on their latest CR—a CR that is likely to fall flat. The House bill is similar to a CHIP reauthorization that passed earlier this fall by a largely partisan vote. The bill (HR 3922) extends CHIP for five years. Democrats opposed the bill because of the way it
Democratic leaders sent mixed messages all last week on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and whether or not it would be a line in the sand for their votes in any end-of-the-year packages. In addition to the previous week’s letter by 34 House Republicans calling for action on DACA by
On Monday, December 4, the Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign was launched to promote best interests of all children in foster and adoption systems. The campaign is headed up by the Family Equality Council and includes a coalition of nearly two dozen founding organizations including the Child Welfare League of America. The goal of
On Saturday, December 3, the Senate gave final approval to their tax package by a vote of 51 to 49. It now will be negotiated with the House. The tax legislation being considered by Congress would not only have major implications for a range of issues and families reliant on the current tax structure but
On Thursday, November 30, HHS released the latest data on child welfare and it now shows that there are 437,465 children in foster care as of September 30, 2016. This is the fifth straight year of increases going from 396,966 in 2012 to 437,465 in 2016. Likely the 2017 numbers are even higher. That is