Election day brought about one of the biggest single day state expansions of the ACA with voters in three states approving Medicaid expansion under the ACA and some new governors could push for more after they are sworn in next year. Voters in Idaho, Nebraska and Utah all had ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid coverage
On Thursday, November 8, the Ninth Circuit Court in California left in place a nationwide injunction keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program alive. The Court, responding to an action led by the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, found that former President Barack Obama’s creation of the program was a legitimate exercise of
On Monday October 29, CWLA President & CEO Chris James-Brown issued the following statement on the recent shootings in Pittsburg and related violence: “CWLA joins the country in mourning the tragedy of this past weekend’s synagogue shooting. Once again, senseless violence strains our comprehension and calls into question what kind of country and society we
On Monday, October 29, CWLA submitted comments on the Administration’s proposed regulation that would overturn or supersede the 1997 Flores settlement. On Friday, September 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a federal register notice that proposes, through the regulation process, to amend a court
Regardless of tomorrow’s election outcome there will be some significant changes in two of the key congressional committees that oversee child welfare: the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate Finance Committee will have a new Chair regardless of the election. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is retiring and if Republicans
On October 4, a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Brackeen V Zinke, Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is unconstitutional in its entirety based on the Equal Protection Clause and the 14th Amendment. The judge wrote that ICWA’s racial classification of children has
A new survey by the Chronical of Social Change indicates that the number of foster family homes may be declining while the number of relative homes is up. According to the second such yearly survey the publication found that at least 15 states lost foster homes between 2017 to 2018 with five states experiencing a
Shaquita Ogleetree On October 15, the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities co-hosted a forum to explore work requirements and the role of anti-poverty programs. The Hamilton Project released its economic analysis report on how work requirements in Medicaid and SNAP affect the goals of a social safety
In between the fight over the Supreme Court, the Senate passed a few bills that the House had sent over before they exited Washington the week before. The House has adjourned until November 13, 2018. The Senate may remain around as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) calculates both the political advantage of keeping senators
On Wednesday, October 3, a new report was released, Evaluating State Mental Health and Addiction Parity Statutes: A Technical Report, ranking the fifty states A through F on whether or not they are providing parity access to mental health and substance abuse treatment consistent with the federal law. That law generally requires health insurers to