Late last week the White House circulated an announcement highlighting Administration’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic in 2015. It is a topic that is certain to get greater focus in the February budget and possibly in the State of the Union address. In their highlights they listed the FY 2016 budget requests, some of
The President will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 12 for the final time in his presidency. The speech is expected to be more general in tone than in the past speeches with the President focusing on his larger vision for the country rather than specific programs or budget requests. The
With just the House in session last week, Congress conducted limited business. The most significant action was the House passage of a reconciliation bill that had been carried over from last year. The reconciliation bill (HR 3762) used the fast-track legislative authority to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and defund Planned Parenthood. The legislation
When Congress returns this week it will mark the beginning of a very short congressional calendar. The President is scheduled to deliver his last State of the Union address on January12 which will unofficially begin the new budget debate for FY 2017. The official budget will come a little more than four weeks later in
On Tuesday night Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WS) announced a final budget deal that wraps up appropriations for the rest of fiscal year 2016. The House approved the package in parts with approval of the appropriations, the final piece, coming on Friday. The Senate wasted no time in voting later that day to approve the combined
The new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act, with a text that runs over one thousand pages includes a number of long sought after reforms that are intended to help children in foster care and improvements in the McKinney-Vento Education For Homeless Children and Youth
According to published news reports he was removed from his home and his mother due to child abuse allegations. He was three years old at the time and he spent the next two months in foster care. He left that first foster care placement to stay with a relative. Details aren’t clear but that arrangement
The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities continued their deliberations last week with a two day discussion in Virginia just outside of Washington DC. Based on the public discussions, members continued to disagree and debate what should be included in a final package of proposals that will go to the Administration, the Congress
The only thing clear by the end of last week was that Congress needs more time to negotiate a final budget for FY 2016. By Friday both houses of Congress adopted an extension of federal funding from its expiration on December 11 to December 16 of this week. Reports were kept confidential but what has
The draft bill, the Families First Act, will likely come up early in the New Year rather than this month as had been originally hoped. The legislation would allow Title IV-E funding on a limited category of substance abuse, mental health and in-home parent support programs for up to 12-months contingent on a child being
