Administration

Supreme Court Hears Affordable Care Act Case

On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, the Supreme Court considered another significant case with national policy implications for the second week in a roll when they considered challenges to the Affordable Care Act. The concern of supporters of the ACA, including CWLA, is that the Court could strike down the entire law as requested by the

McConnell Signals New Relief Package Before End of Year

In a press conference held the morning after the election, Wednesday, November 4, 2020, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that he expected a new relief package would get passed before the end of this year. With some Senate seats still uncertain, McConnell is likely to return as Senate Majority Leader, but that is still

At Home with Foster Youth Independence Initiative (Housing for Youth)

On Thursday, November 5, 2020, the National Center for Housing & Child Welfare (NCHCW) hosted a webinar titled "At Home with FYI: A Conversation with Child Welfare Partners" that discussed HUD's Foster Youth Independence (FYI) Initiative and its implementation. Since FYI was established in July 2019, nearly 1,000 youth have accessed safe, decent, affordable housing in 91

320,000 More Children Lose Health Care Coverage

According to a new report by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, the number of uninsured children grew by 320,000 in 2019 to a total of 4.4 million children. The report, Children’s Uninsured Rate Rises by Largest Annual Jump in More Than a Decade, finds that since the start of the Trump Administration, 726,000 children have

Educating Homeless Students During COVID-19

On Wednesday, October 14, SchoolHouse Connection hosted a Congressional briefing titled “Educating Homeless Children and Youth During COVID-19”. The briefing included several panelists, including Congressmen Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE). The bipartisan Congressional briefing also featured four local educational agency homeless liaisons experts, John Bright from Omaha Public Schools in Nebraska, Ayesha Buckner

Mixed Signals from President, Clear Signal from Federal Reserve, Next COVID Package?

Last week on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told members of the National Association for Business Economics that there needs to be more stimulus, telling members, “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.” Shortly after giving a boost to the discussions that

2017 CBO Report On The Impact of ACA Repeal

In early 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis, How Repealing Portions of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect Health Insurance Coverage and Premiums that detailed the impact of an ACA repeal. The report suggested a dramatic impact on people if the law is repealed without a replacement—a real prospect if the Supreme Court agrees

Leaked I.G. Report Details Strategy to Separate Children at Border

According to an October 7, 2020 report in the New York Times, an upcoming Inspector General (IG)’s report will show that top Justice Department Officials, in May 2018, including the Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, pressed local U.S. Attorneys to prosecute and separate families for prosecution no matter how young the

HUD Expands the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative

On Tuesday, October 6, HUD’s Secretary Ben Carson issued a notice expanding the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) program to reach more youth aging out of foster care. The FYI program is an initiative of HUD that expanded and enhanced the existing Family Unification Program (FUP) to reach more youth leaving foster care. Both FUP

ACA Repeal: Why A Stand-Alone Pre-existing Condition Law Does Not Protect People

One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that part of the law that prohibits insurance companies from denying health insurance coverage because a patient has a “pre-existing condition.” A pre-existing condition could cover any number of previous illnesses, health history, or other circumstances that insurance companies, before the ACA,

Value prop about becoming a member