On October 25, 2023, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing entitled, “Ensuring the Well-Being of Unaccompanied Children, Pt. II,” to examine the efforts of federal agencies to protect migrant children from labor exploitation, human trafficking, and abuse and neglect in foster care. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL], delivered the opening statement
On October 12, 2023, CWLA submitted comments for the record on the Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on, “Modernizing Child Welfare to Protect Vulnerable Children.” Our comments explained the history and background of the programs in Title IV-B of the Social Security Act and highlighted a number of key areas of focus for a potential
On Thursday, September 28, 2023, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee held a hearing about Title IV-B of the Social Security Act entitled, “Modernizing Child Welfare to Protect Vulnerable Children.” Title IV-B is a small but important source of funding for child welfare agencies and community-based organizations, and it is due to be reauthorized this
On July 19, 2023, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a markup of fifteen health bills for the SUPPORT Act Reauthorization. H.R. 4056, the Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act, was not fully included, but compromise language on this bill was added as an amendment in the nature of substitute
On July 13, 2023, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a markup of seventeen bills, including H.R. 4056, the Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act. This legislation would exempt Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) from the institutions for mental disease (IMD) exclusion in Medicaid. If this bill were
On June 21, 2023, the House Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee held a legislative hearing entitled “Responding to America’s Overdose Crisis: An Examination of Legislation to Build Upon the SUPPORT Act” to evaluate how the Substance Use–Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act has worked
The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published an issue (Vol. 39, No. 1) titled "Youth with Foster Care Histories: Emancipation and Well-Being" in June 2023. The issue explores the complexities of foster care and addresses key areas related to the well-being of youth with foster care histories. The issue acknowledges
A publication released by the Child Welfare Information Gateway in 2023 provides a legal overview of the rights and supports available to youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, Two-Spirit, or other gender or sexual identities), children who are often subjected to adverse experiences while in care.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a policy brief on May 12, 2023, exploring the connection between the TANF proposals in the debt ceiling negotiations and child welfare involvement. The paper cites research from Chapin Hall, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and others that illustrate that "policies that take cash assistance
On April 27, 2023, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to improve recruitment, retention, and support for foster parents. Across the nation, states are facing a growing shortage of appropriate foster placement for children, undermining federal legislation and policy that has pushed to reduce the use of congregate care and
