Primary Interventions Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Among Youth

A new publication from the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends primary preventive services that reduce the perpetration of intimate partner violence and sexual violence among youth. Based on a systematic review of 28 studies, the CPSTF found evidence that prevention strategies that utilized one or more of three strategies were successful in reducing

Senate Finance Committee Continues Hearings on Mental Health

On Tuesday, February 15th, 2022, the full Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part II- Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Care,” which continued the conversation and efforts of Congress to address the growing mental health crisis. CWLA previously reported on part one of this series. The witnesses called to testify

House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hosts Hearing on Mental Health

On Thursday, February 17th, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held an investigative hearing on ‘Americans in Need: Responding to the National Mental Health Crisis.’ The Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, making it a key committee in any significant effort to enact behavioral health

Finance Committee Begins Series on Mental Health & Substance Use Service Reforms

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee started their series of hearings on mental health with Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part I – An Advisory and Call to Action. This series of hearings will focus on five areas of behavioral health: youth mental health, mental health workforce, parity between mental and physical health,

Congress Kicks Off Hearings on Mental Health and Substance Use Services

Last Tuesday and Wednesday two key congressional committees began a set of bipartisan discussions on the challenges of access to mental health and substance use services.  On Tuesday the Senate HELP Committee held their first hearings and on Wednesday the House Ways and Means Committee focused hearings on the behavioral health challenges.  The subject and

Ways and Means Committee Focuses on Mental Health Crisis

On Wednesday, February 2nd, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on "America's Mental Health Crisis."  The full 42-member Committee heard testimony from: Dr. Wizdom Powell (Director of the Health Disparities Institute and Associate Professor of Psychiatry) focused on four main points, youth as a target population in the mental health crisis, the

Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Implemented

On January 24, 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published it’s notice of Implementation of the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities (FSHO) Amendments in the Federal Register. FSHO, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, made changes to the assistance provided to youth eligible for the Family Unification Program (FUP). FUP provides

Two Programs Added to Families First Approved List

On January 25, 2022, three new programs were rated and two were approved for federal funding under by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse Youth Villages’ Intercept® becomes one of only 12 programs to earn the well-supported distinction from the Clearinghouse, the top category out of three allowing states to spend without bumping into any spending

ABA Releases National Education-Child Welfare Data Sheet for 2022

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center on Children and the Law has released their National Datasheet for 2022. The 2022 National Datasheet includes resources that summarize key research findings on foster care youth in education, provide a national summary of student outcome data, and summarize federal laws that address the disparate educational outcomes that foster

Child Tax Credit (CTC) IRS Website Goes Live

On Monday, January 24, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updated their live sight designed to help families get the remaining part of their 2021 CTC. There are two important live tabs: the Get Your Child Tax Credit and Check Your Eligibility. The CTC has been federal law since the mid-1990s, but last year’s expansion

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