More than 550 attendees at the CWLA Conference were welcomed by opening remarks of Commissioner Rafael Lopez, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), HHS. Lopez offered praise to the many participants made up of state and local agencies and service providers. In his first day comments he said that what was most important and
Talking about the need for greater access to needed services for families, on both Monday and Tuesday’s plenary sessions Commissioner Rafael Lopez noted the significance of the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456) (Conference Report 114-628). Lopez highlighted in his Tuesday luncheon remarks how the current opioid crisis is not new but just different
The “CARA” legislation under title five includes amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) regarding a plan of safe care for infants exposed to substances. It does not reauthorize CAPTA but amends current provisions around a plan of safe care. The plan of safe care for infants requires a state that receives
CWLA submitted comments to the Department of Education on proposed regulations of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) before the due date of Monday, August 1. The Proposed regulations, which garnered more than 20,000 comments, implement Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), focused generally on the broader accountability requirements in ESSA but in
--WE WILL BE BACK NEXT ON AUGUST 8-- During the summer break child care advocates will be seeking more child care funding in an effort to make progress on implementing the new mandates enacted through a reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The 2014 reauthorization sought to improve the quality
The final conference report on the “CARA” legislation includes changes under nine titles. Its emphasis, unlike past anti-drug initiatives, is more on prevention and treatment. It is a distance from some of the efforts of the 1980s when crack-cocaine was attracting all the attention in regard to substance use. Actions then and into the 1990s
Wait Until September Congress left last week to start one of their longest summer breaks in decades. As they departed they were unable to get final action on the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456) (Conference Report 114-628). The legislation has been endorsed by CWLA. All week long, bill sponsors had attempted to reach
On the last day of summer session, Thursday, July 14, the Senate approved the conference report on the “CARA” legislation and sent the legislation onto the President who will sign it. The vote was 92 to 2 with only Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) voting no. CARA or the Comprehensive Addiction
On Tuesday, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) held their annual unveiling of their policy report. The report and the panel of speakers are the result of the 2016 CCAI Foster Youth Internship Program® class. The policy report, Powerful Voices: Sharing Our Stories to Reform Child Welfare includes 22 policy recommendation by the 12
On Wednesday, July 13 a bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) to encourage coordination between state child welfare and juvenile justice systems in addressing the needs of vulnerable youth caught between the two systems. The Childhood Outcomes Need New Efficient Community Teams (Connect Act) would authorize grants
