Before President Biden’s signed the American Rescue Plan, 27 million children did not receive the child tax credit as a result of low parental income. During the pandemic, child poverty reached an estimated high of 21.4% in August 2020 – up from 18.7% pre-pandemic. The National Academies of Sciences found that child poverty itself costs
Aysha Schomburg, Associate Commissioner for the Children’s Bureau, helped to open CWLA’s successful 2021 virtual conference on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. In her opening remarks to CWLA attendees, she discussed her experiences over the past year during the pandemic and some of the lessons learned. At the time, Commissioner Schomburg was working at New York
Recently Bethany Christian Services released a report detailing what their agencies have learned over this past year due to the pandemic. The report includes a number of observations and some proposed reforms. One of those reforms is a revaluation of a 1994 law called the Multi-Ethic Placement Act (MEPA) and, more specifically, a rollback of changes made
Child Trends has released the new biennial report on state spending on child welfare, Child Welfare Financing SFY 2018, and it shows little dramatic difference from previous years. Total child welfare agency expenditures increased by 6 percent from SFY 2016 to SFY 2018, but only by 2 percent over the past decade. That may not be
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure has a lot in it that directly and indirectly addresses the impact of this year-long pandemic. It includes several issues that have received increased focus because of this past year’s struggles (for example, the racial and regional inequities within the economy and health care system). There are limited added funds specific
In addition to the Children’s Bureau, other critical appointments included Katie Hamm, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development; Dr. Bernadine Futrell, Director Office of Head Start; Cindy Huang, Director Office of Refugee Resettlement; and Dr. Lanikque Howard, Director Office of Community Services. Hamm has a lengthy resume in the child care arena.
Last week the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released, Freeing Children for Adoption within the Adoption and Safe Families Act Timeline explores how frequently states make exceptions to the federal requirement that child welfare agencies file to terminate parental rights for children who remain in foster care for at least 15
Last week, nine House Committees acted on their parts of a reconciliation bill that will make up President Biden’s COVID-19 relief measure. Within the package are key CWLA priorities, including more than $39 billion in child care funding, year one of a Children’s Allowance, $350 billion in state and local government relief, $350 million more in
Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) of the Finance Committee sent a letter to the Acting HHS Secretary W. Cochran urging the Biden Administration to halt the implementation of a Trump-era HHS final rule that would allow taxpayer-funded discrimination. If this final rule goes into effect on February 11, 2021, Senator Wyden inserted that “it has the potential
The new Social Services Block Grant annual report once again documents the significance of SSBG to child welfare services. The SSBG Annual Report 2019 was posted in mid-January, and it complements information provided by the new Child Maltreatment 2019 report, also released this past January. According to the 2019 Child Maltreatment report and its analysis of prevention services,