Last month, when the House of Representatives approved a four-bill appropriations package that included appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (by a vote of 226-to 203) they included an important improvement for child abuse prevention. The final House appropriation for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) received a $35 million increase to
Congress gave final approval to a border funding bill totaling approximately $4.6 billion negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats. The final bill approved in the House by a vote of 305 to 102 included a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Many House Democrats were unhappy about the fact that, earlier in the week, a Democrats-only
Last week the Child Welfare League of America endorsed and signed onto a national letter of support for two bills by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) that would extend protections and rights to children and families that have been separated by U.S. immigration policies. The two bills are the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for
On June 24, the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at the Brookings Institution held an event Improving Opportunity Through Access to Family Planning. The event was based on the recent Brookings report Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy: Lessons from the States by Isabel V. Sawhill and Katherine Guyot. The focus of the event was to highlight
Immigration was heating up again last week from its slow boil to full steam on two fronts. The President created tremendous anxiety with the advocacy and certainly the immigration communities when he tweeted his desire for more raids and deportations. On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was holding a hearing on his
On Tuesday, June 11, more than 100 children and youth organizations, including CWLA, released a letter to the Administration demanding they maintain educational and recreational programming for minors in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) facilities. The Trump Administration announced it had decided to suspend educational and recreational services for unaccompanied migrant children and youth in
On Thursday, June 13, the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention met to discuss prevention of and response to child abuse and trauma. The Council is responsible for coordinating federal juvenile delinquency prevention programs, federal programs and activities that detain or care for unaccompanied juveniles, and federal programs relating to missing and exploited
On Tuesday, June 4, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth sponsored briefing on Right to Counsel in Child Abuse and Neglect Dependency. The focus of this meeting was to educate individuals about the importance of high-quality legal representation for children and parents. The five panelists included Frank Utomo and Levi Zwick-Tapley, former foster care
On Wednesday, June 5, AEI hosted the panel Big data, little kids: How technology is changing child welfare to inform participants about the lagging technology used in the child welfare system and present some ways to utilize technology to make the system more effective. The panel consisted of Thea Ramirez, Founder and CEO of Adoption-Share;
On Monday, May 20, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2480 – Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by voice vote and now it heads to the Senate. It proposes robust funding increases for states and local communities to implement strategies and programs that prevents child abuse is critical to strengthen families and