On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released a joint letter to promote family strengthening and virtual primary prevention during COVID-19 and beyond. As federal agencies with a collective mission to improve the health, economic, and social well-being of children and families
On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, the House Ways and Means Committee conducted a virtual hearing on the Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color. Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), said: “While the factors driving these inequities are complex and multifaceted, their impact on health outcomes have been clearly documented.” His opening comments highlighted: Indigenous and
On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth hosted a briefing on COVID-19 and its impact on child welfare to explore the effects of the pandemic on these vulnerable young people and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-sweeping impacts on all Americans, and the impacts on children and families in
On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, the House Education and Labor Committee held a virtual briefing on the impact of COVID-19 on America’s Child Care System. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the child care sector with over half of child care providers having closed and as many as 4.5 million child care slots could be
In a new research paper published on May 17, 2020, Suffering in Silence: How COVID-19 School Closures Inhibit the Reporting of Child Maltreatment, three researchers document how the closure of schools across the country is affecting reports of child abuse and neglect. The authors examine historical patterns of child abuse reports going down when schools
The National Women’s Law Center released a new report on child care during this COVID-19 pandemic. The survey of states called, Child Care’s Struggle to Survive COVID-19: State Impacts and Response, released on May 12, 2020, says that, with the shutdown of many jobs and the economy, many child care programs have been forced to
Two areas addressed in the House bill and supported by CWLA include the FMAP increase for state Medicaid and Title IV-E programs and an increase in funding of $9.6 billion for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). The second COVID-19 bill increased each state’s Medicaid matching rate (FMAP—the federal medical assistance percentage) by 6.2 percent,
On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, child welfare leaders from Washington D.C. and Virginia discussed how the region’s foster care and child welfare services are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the nationally syndicated public radio Kojo Nnamdi Show. The guests included Brenda Donald, District of Columbia, Director, DC Child, and Family Services Agency, Sharra
On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled the $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, the next major coronavirus relief bill. The legislation provisions related to former foster youth and other vulnerable youth populations includes the following emergency assistance: • $50 million for the John H. Chafee Foster
Last Wednesday, May 13, 2020, was the deadline to file amici briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court on the case of The State of California, ET AL. v. The State of Texas, ET AL., a Supreme Court case that could strike down the entire ACA before this year’s election. Several dozen briefs were filed led
