The Administration released its FY 2021 budget on Monday, February 10, 2020. This year’s budget, A Budget for America’s Future, proposes a number of human service cuts and human service funding increases but overall includes more than $40 billion in non-defense spending despite last year’s budget agreement. The President’s FY 2021 budget should be based
The Administration’s budget proposes a clarification under the Family First Act, the relationship between al Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP), and the definition of Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) under the Medicaid program. Additionally, the Administration would allow ACF to better align the ratings of child welfare programs under the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse, the HHS
The Administration proposes the same level of funding for the two CAPTA-related grants for FY 2021 with an increase in one of the grants. State Grants would be funded at $90 million, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) grants would be funded at $55 million, and CAPTA Discretionary Grants would be increased by $16 million to
On Wednesday, January 22, the Children’s Bureau released an Information Memorandum, ACYF-CB-IM-20-01, regarding new legislation passed in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Bill of 2020 in December 2019: Public Law (P.L.) 116-94 Family First Transition Act. CWLA had endorsed the legislation. The IM provides basic information on the new law provisions including: 1. The $500 million
On Thursday, December 19, Congress passed the Family First Transition Act as part of an omnibus appropriations bill this week. The further consolidated appropriations bill of 2020 (page 1483) is the appropriations agreement reached through Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and congressional leaders. The original vehicle for the Family First Transition bill was supposed to move
As part of the budget deal, Congress provided the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) with some small but important increases that CWLA and the National Child Abuse Coalition sees as being part of a new recognition of CAPTA’s importance. CAPTA state grants will increase by $5 million to $90 million. Far short of
CWLA submitted comments to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, Health and Human Services Grants Regulation on the HHS notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would repeal anti-discrimination provisions as implemented during the Obama Administration before the due date of Thursday, December 19. The letter states: “We need a comprehensive national strategy
On Tuesday, December 17, NPR’s Steve Inskeep and journalist with The Kansas City Star Laura Bauer discussed the investigation of the outcomes for foster care children in America. The 7-minute interview, “Kansas City Star’ Probe Uncover Failures In Foster Care System, illustrated what happens to children who age out of foster care. Bauer and her
On December 30, the Washington Post in an article, “We are just destroying these kids’: The foster children growing up inside detention centers,” documented some of the ongoing problems in the state of West Virginia and the tragedy of some youth ending up in the state’s juvenile justice system when they should have been in
On Thursday, December 12, the House of Representatives adopted HR 3, Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. It passed by a vote of 230 to 192. The legislation would create new methods to control prescription drug prices. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had been guiding the package for several months with an eye toward a possible