For many years the child welfare field has debated the need for a new system of finance that would ensure eligibility for all in children in need. The CWLA Balanced Approach offers a number of options that can be enacted either individually or in some combination, all with the goal of moving reform forward.
Across the nation, child welfare services and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant are intricately linked. TANF, the 1996 replacement for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), is a critical funding source for child welfare services while also being the main source of cash assistance to many of the same or
After an amazing effort of advocacy, the Senate gave final approval to HR 4980, legislation that extends the current adoption incentives fund and expands it to kinship care. It also includes numerous additional requirements on states in regard to youth in foster care. A complete analysis of the legislation is available at PREVENT SEX TRAFFICKING
Late on Thursday night, September 18, the Senate gave final approval to HR 4980, the "Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.’ The main piece of the legislation reauthorizes the Adoption Incentive Fund for three years and extends it to guardianship placements. The passage of the bill may not have happened had it not been
Congress Working On Funding Extension Through December 10 Congress will attempt to adopt a continuing resolution through December 10 or 11 this week but that timetable could become more complicated. The House was to act on a measure this past week but it has been delayed by the President’s request to extend authority and some
Congress Returns With Long List–Short Period of Work by JS Congress returns this week with the House scheduled to be in Washington for the next two weeks, take a week off and then return for the last few days starting on September 29 but Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has said the House may drop the last
ACTION ALERT: Meet With Your Members of Congress in August while they are home. Ask them to support the Foster Care-Medicaid Demonstration Proposal Concern: The Administration has proposed (in next year’s budget) new revenue that will help local foster care (and state child welfare) agencies coordinate with state Medicaid programs to provide better health care services
Recent actions in Congress have targeted the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) for elimination. This paper proposes to protect the $1.7 billion in SSBG human services funding and the programs it subsidizes. https://cwla.org/our-work/advocacy/protecting-youth-families/child-abuse-neglect-prevention/ https://cwla.org/our-work/advocacy/family-community-support/social-supports-as-primary-maltreatment-prevention/ DOWNLOAD SAVING SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT
The need for a full array of services for all children has been a key focus for CWLA’s finance reform efforts. CWLA takes a practical approach to child welfare reform that acknowledges the need for modest investments and more aggressive efforts to preventing child maltreatment, strengthening families that are fragile, and finding new permanent
CWLA's Position on Same-Sex Parenting The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) affirms that lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents are as well suited to raise children as their heterosexual counterparts. Issue Since 1920, CWLA and its member agencies have worked to ensure that abused, neglected, and other vulnerable children are protected from harm.