District Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled Friday, March 11, 2022 that providing gender-affirming care is not a reason for the state to investigate a family for child abuse, and halted all such investigations. The ruling came after a day of arguments about Governor Greg Abbott’s directive to the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS);
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
Researchers at Columbia University’ Center on Poverty & Social Policy have been tracking the impact of the CTC on child poverty monthly. According to a research roundup on the first six months of the CTC, payments were shown to reduce food insufficiency, help families address basic needs, and had no discernable impact on parental employment.
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,
On Thursday February 10, 2022, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held a subcommittee hearing on Recruiting, Revitalizing, and Diversifying: Examining the Health Care Workforce Shortage. Witnesses were: Dr. Margaret Flinter, Senior Vice President and Clinical Director, Community Health Center, Inc., Middletown, CT who focused on the loss of primary
On a webinar, hosted on Thursday, February 10, 2022, new research, the First Randomized Controlled Trial of Poverty Reduction in Early Childhood, focused on the impact that cash assistance to families can have on infant brain development. Presenters Sonya Troller-Renfree and Greg Duncan outlined findings that expands the understanding and the implications of poverty on
On February 8th, 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling hosted a press event for the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit Day of Action. Sperling opened the event by giving the history of the Child Tax Credit and an overview of
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
