Out-of-Home Care

Congress Passes First Appropriations, Readies CR-HHS Bill

Cutting their week short due to the hurricane, the Senate gave final approval to a Military Construction and Veterans -Energy and Water--Legislative Branch FY 19 spending package sending it back to the House for a final approval. The bill goes to the White House for signature and marks the first FY 2019 bills enacted before

Senate to Take Up Delayed Vote on Opioids This Week

The Senate delayed a vote on an opioids package of legislation until this week. The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, addresses a range of programs and agencies, sometimes building on 2016 Congressional action though the CARA and CURES acts of that year. Senators had intended to debate the bill on Thursday but put off

Senate Caucus Briefing on Interventions that Prevent Foster Care Placements

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 12, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth hosted a congressional briefing on effective interventions that are working to keep children and families intact and preventing entry into foster care. The panel included a discussion by Christen Glickman and Jessica Wooten from Youth Village, Chelsea Geyer and Ms. U from DC127,

Administration Seeks Elimination of Child Immigrant Protections

On Friday, September 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a federal register notice that proposes, through the regulation process, to amend a court agreement relating to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of children detained at the U.S. border. The notice, Apprehension, Processing,

CWLA Urges Congressional Action on JJDPA Reauthorization

Shaquita Ogletree On Wednesday, September 5, CWLA sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging the passage of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA). CWLA joins the Act 4 Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) campaign in circulating a letter a day urging Congress to act on the JJDPA reauthorization soon. Act4JJ is composed of

Opioids Bills Still Waiting

The Senate has been struggling to move their opiods legislation, but the hope is it will finally move this week. When they do its passage is to set the stage for a mega-negotiation with the House. Back in the spring there had been a hope that there would be movement on another opiods abuse bill

The Intersection Between Medicaid and Child Welfare

Shaquita Ogletree On Thursday, September 6, 2018, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth along with First Focus hosted a congressional briefing on the Intersection of Medicaid and Child Welfare. The briefing discussed the importance of Medicaid coverage for current and former foster youth and highlighted the need to fix a glitch in Medicaid regulation affecting

Senate Adopts Defense-Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations

On Thursday, August 23, the Senate passed H.R. 6157 an $857 billion appropriations package that combines the Defense Department appropriations with the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 85 to 7. Now the bill will likely go to a House-Senate conference committee where they will have to act fast before

Administration Delays AFCARS Data Update

The Administration has announced one of their decisions regarding an update of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) with an August 21, 2018 Federal Register announcement. They will delay an implementation that was scheduled to take place now. Instead the Children’s Bureau will delay the compliance and effective dates in the

Senate Returns for Brief Period, Possible HHS Budget Debate

The Senate will return this week on August 15. There will be additional judicial votes but it is expected that they will then turn to appropriations shortly after those actions. The Senate hopes to debate and vote on a bill that will combine both the Defense Department Appropriations bill and the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. The combination

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