Following up on last week’s Finance Committee hearing on the increasing prescription drug/heroin use, the United States Senate spent last week’s floor debate on consideration of S 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act or “CARA” for short. The bill was introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) with the bipartisan co-sponsorship of Senator Rob Portman
Last week CWLA endorsed legislation that will improve the interstate placement of children in child welfare. The legislation called The Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act was introduced in both houses in recent weeks. The first bill HR 4472 was sponsored by Congressman Todd Young (R-IN) and the second bill S
On Thursday, March 3 the Administration through the Department of Health and Human Services announced they were expanding Medicaid coverage to pregnant women and children beyond what the current Medicaid coverage allows. The announcement by HHS would expand care to an estimated 15,000 patients. The HHS expansion would also increase some of the coverage to
Last week there was no breakthrough on how leadership will move a budget resolution. The public optimism of House leadership has not won over enough conservatives who still want to lower the budget caps agreed to last December. Budget Chairman Congressman Tom Price R-GA) has not been able to convince members to stick with the
On Tuesday, February 23 the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the prescription drug to heroin addiction issue. The hearing highlights the continued intense interest within Congress on the issue of heroin and opioids use. With sixteen senators in attendance at one time or another there was a great deal of interest on a
While the Finance Committee was holding a hearing on opioids and heroin, two key senators, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), were introducing a bill to reauthorize the $20 million in funding for Regional Partnership Grants (RPGs) to address substance abuse. The grants have been a part of the Promotion
On Tuesday, February 23 the National Council of Juvenile Family Court judges sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing to highlight juvenile justice issues. The briefing included a panel discussion that was led by Dr. Sean Marsh from the Council and he was joined by four judges: Judge Karen Adams, AZ, Judge Deborah Schumacher, NV, Judge Richard
--Dusty Murphy, CWLA On February 24, 2016, Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) sponsored a briefing, “Reducing Demand for American Children Trafficked for Sex: King County, WA as a National Model.” Briefing panelists included Tim Matsui, director of The Long Night, a documentary about youth in the American sex trade, Alisa Bernard, survivor
Last week the budget struggles continued at least in the House of Representatives where they've decided to delay any markup on the budget resolution in the budget committee. There were indications and public comments by the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Congressman Tom Price that they had reached an agreement with more conservative elements of
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) five-year reauthorization ran out in FY 2010 and has been extended through a series of short term extensions ranging from a few months to a year at a time. In this year’s budget, for the first time, the Administration proposes several changes and enhancements. There appears to be
