The date of November 3 as the point in which we will reach the debt ceiling was confirmed last week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The confirmation refutes some criticism that the Administration was playing with the date to increase pressure on Congress. The actual date is is November 3 but some actions could
As a way to highlight the need to prevent child abuse and child maltreatment from taking place, Prevent Child Abuse America held an event on the Washington National Mall last Tuesday, October 13. Led by their Virginia and Maryland chapters the gathering was an attempt to celebrate childhood and all that communities and individuals can
With a second surprise announcement about the House leadership in less than a month (Boehner retires, McCarthy pulls out of race) the Congress may be heading for a real crisis. Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had what was considered close relationships to many of the most conservative members of the House Republican caucus but that did
Last week CWLA sent a letter to members of the Senate Finance Committee reminding Senate Finance Committee members to include The Family-Based Foster Care Services Act: HR.835/S.429 in future child welfare reform legislation. The leadership of the Finance Committee is attempting to present legislation for debate in Committee at some point in the next two
On Monday, October 5 the American Youth Policy Forum sponsored a briefing that focused on how state and local child welfare programs address the challenge of converting research to inform policy and practice decisions in the child welfare field. The research was funded by the W. T. Grant Foundation in an effort to improve the
On October 5, Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) introduced along with Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), HR 3641 the “Health Insurance for Former Foster Youth Act of2015.” The bill mirrors Senate legislation, S 1852, by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) that would fix what most agree is a technical hang-up in the ACA. The ACA requires states, regardless
The Child Welfare League of America led by President and CEO of CWLA Christine James-Brown brought a delegation of child welfare agencies to Cuba to exchange information and approaches regarding child and family well-being. “We are excited to learn about the resilience of families and how they manage without a child welfare system in place,”
Congress approved a continuing resolution (CR/ H.R. 719) last week with relative ease and now they need to raise the debt ceiling by November 5. On Wednesday the Senate approved a short term CR by a vote of 78 to 20, later in the afternoon the House followed with a vote of 277 to 151.
In June the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passed FY 2016 bills under the current spending caps. The House bill avoided some of the controversial cuts of the recent past but not all. It de-funds programs to carry out the Affordable Care Act and eliminates funding for Title X family planning, eliminates some 20 Department
Last week the House Ways and Means committee began the process of creating a reconciliation bill. The reconciliation measure was authorized or permitted as a result of the last budget resolution. The legislation being crafted in the House will attempt to repeal key parts of the Affordable Care Act. They cannot repeal all of the
