Last week a bipartisan group of Senators joined onto a letter to HHS and the Department of Education calling on the two departments to implement new provisions in the new reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) regarding the education rights of children in foster care. The senators, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the
On April 28, the President signed a proclamation recognizing May as national foster care month. The President said in his proclamation: “The success of our country tomorrow depends on the well-being of our children today. As a Nation, we have a duty to empower each child so they have the same sense of promise and
Last week, HHS through the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), issued a Data Collection Study gathered through that Bureau’s Street Outreach Program. The results provide an over view of the grim circumstances for homeless and runaway youth. The study indicated: The average youth spent nearly two years living on the streets. More than 60
After the ICPC vote, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill HR 4724 that would eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). The vote and the bill was part of a strategy to get a budget resolution adopted (see below). Members of the Republican conservative caucus (Freedom Caucus) have told Speaker Paul Ryan
On Wednesday, March 16 the Senate HELP Committee passed out of committee S 2680, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016. The bill taken up was based on a staff discussion draft. In prepared remarks Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), sponsors highlighted the overall changes in the authorization legislation,
On Tuesday, February 23 the National Council of Juvenile Family Court judges sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing to highlight juvenile justice issues. The briefing included a panel discussion that was led by Dr. Sean Marsh from the Council and he was joined by four judges: Judge Karen Adams, AZ, Judge Deborah Schumacher, NV, Judge Richard
--Dusty Murphy, CWLA On February 24, 2016, Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) sponsored a briefing, “Reducing Demand for American Children Trafficked for Sex: King County, WA as a National Model.” Briefing panelists included Tim Matsui, director of The Long Night, a documentary about youth in the American sex trade, Alisa Bernard, survivor
A new policy brief by Chapin Hall and the Chadwick Center, Using Evidence to Accelerate the Safe and Effective Reduction of Congregate Care for Youth Involved with Child Welfare was released in the past week. The research could be important in light of the Senate Finance Committee’s still-in-development Families First Act which could potentially open
Days after leading groups started to re-circulate a letter by more than 80 organizations, including CWLA, in support of action on a Senate bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA, S 1169), the President took action to ban solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons. At nearly the same time the
CWLA and a number of groups have signed onto letters to the US Department of Education urging them to take several actions to implement changes enacted through the recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The law now referred to as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) made a number of improvements
