On April 28th, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2021 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This survey is the largest public health surveillance system in the United States, monitoring a broad range of health-related behaviors among high school students. The 2021 surveys were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and
On Thursday, April 27, 2023, Child Trends announced that its State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States interactive has been updated with the latest available data. “This comprehensive resource offers state-level and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship care, and permanency. These data help stakeholders understand the rates at which
State Child Abuse & Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database users can now download new state profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Each state profile contains summary tables with the definitions and policies pertaining to the incidence of child abuse, neglect, and related risk in that state to
On Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, House Republicans unveiled legislation that would pair lifting the debt ceiling with steep budget cuts and budget caps for the next ten years. Speaker McCarthy is expected to call a vote on the measure this week, although it’s not certain that he currently has enough votes to pass it through
On April 12, 2023, CWLA submitted testimony for the record on the House Ways and Means Work and Welfare Subcommittee Hearing, “Welfare is Broken: Restoring Work Requirements to Lift Americans Out of Poverty.” The comments focused on the ways that TANF currently provides support to children and families and the program’s potential to address child
On April 18, 2023, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing concerning the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR) unaccompanied children program. The witness, director of the ORR, Ms. Robin Dunn-Marcos defended the current system used to care for unaccompanied migrant children. However, congressmen from both sides of the aisle raised concerns and were
On April 12, 2023, Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) wrote a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries informing them of their creation of the Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group. This letter indicated that ensuring paid family leave must be a bipartisan effort, as the future of
On April 19th, 2023, Congressman Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Congresswoman Ann Kuster (D-NH) introduced a resolution to recognize April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. “The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) thanks Representatives Joyce and Kuster for this resolution in support of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Child abuse and neglect are serious problems,
On Friday, April 14th, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance on the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) regarding youth who are self-supporting or at risk of homelessness. SchoolHouse Connection lauded the new guidance as a positive change and called on those assisting youth experiencing homelessness to review the guidance to
CWLA submitted a public comment in the Federal Register in support of the proposed rule that would allow Title IV-E agencies to adopt separate licensing requirements for kinship family caregivers. "The proposed changes will remove barriers for children to be cared for by their relatives and kin and will decrease burdens on the child welfare
