Several stories of youth being maltreated by residential staff have recently been reported in the news. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report on February 23, 2022, after being asked to review these instances of maltreatment in federally funded residential facilities. State and local agencies are primarily responsible for addressing these concerns, but
On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee started their series of hearings on mental health with Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part I – An Advisory and Call to Action. This series of hearings will focus on five areas of behavioral health: youth mental health, mental health workforce, parity between mental and physical health,
Last Tuesday and Wednesday two key congressional committees began a set of bipartisan discussions on the challenges of access to mental health and substance use services. On Tuesday the Senate HELP Committee held their first hearings and on Wednesday the House Ways and Means Committee focused hearings on the behavioral health challenges. The subject and
On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing entitled “Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Responding to the Growing Crisis.” Chairwoman Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) highlighted that millions of people across the country face mental health disorders, while 130 million Americans live in areas with
On Wednesday, February 2nd, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on "America's Mental Health Crisis." The full 42-member Committee heard testimony from: Dr. Wizdom Powell (Director of the Health Disparities Institute and Associate Professor of Psychiatry) focused on four main points, youth as a target population in the mental health crisis, the
On January 24, 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published it’s notice of Implementation of the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities (FSHO) Amendments in the Federal Register. FSHO, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, made changes to the assistance provided to youth eligible for the Family Unification Program (FUP). FUP provides
On January 25, 2022, three new programs were rated and two were approved for federal funding under by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse Youth Villages’ Intercept® becomes one of only 12 programs to earn the well-supported distinction from the Clearinghouse, the top category out of three allowing states to spend without bumping into any spending
Discussions continued between key appropriations leaders, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX). Not much has been revealed but Chairperson DeLauro offered some broad positive comments about progress. Like the reconciliation, Democratic leaders including the White House would like a final deal by March 1.
Earlier this month, Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) announced this week’s hearing that will focus on shortfalls in mental health care for children and teenagers in America. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will testify on a Surgeon General Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health. In issuing the advisory
CWLA partnered with the SAMHSA-funded Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) to provide an informative and timely webinar centered on the intersection of child welfare and suicide prevention: considering the increasing stress brought on by the pandemic it is critical that we pay attention to this issue for children and youth, especially the most vulnerable. Moderated