On Thursday, February 4, 2022, HHS held a session on their new Racial Equity initiative. Debra Johnson the Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs at HHS started the call by advocating for the nation to build a more just system that promotes fairness. She also outlines her agency's commitment to advancing racial equity. The next
Save the date for February 3, 2022, 2:00 PM EST, for a live event by the Children’s Bureau when they release an information memorandum (IM) “Equity in Action.” The IM covers: The impact of racism on poverty and the well-being of children and families. The need for comprehensive action to address structural racism within policies
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.
Both houses of Congress return this week as the House joins the Senate in an early return. Facing members is a list of challenges some are a carryover while Covid-19 returns in another variant. On the Build Back Better Reconciliation, the House will have to wait on Senate action and that does not seem likely
In April of 2021, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) reported findings on the effectiveness of mobile responses - “an alternative to using law enforcement to respond to mental health and social crisis.” In December CLASP generated a letter (that CWLA joined onto) to CMS to support these efforts. On December 28, 2021 HHS issued guidance and announced
The Prevention Services Clearinghouse, created under the Family First Act, has issued a new call for additional recommendations. As noted in the announcement the call is an opportunity for the public to recommend mental health, substance abuse, in-home parent skill-based, and kinship navigator programs and services for systematic review. Additional public calls for recommendations will
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report: Students’ Experiences with Bullying, Hate Speech, Hate Crimes, and Victimization in Schools, indicating that about one in five students aged 12 to 18 were bullied annually in school and of students who were bullied in school about one in four students experienced bullying related
The Senate agreed to a CR extension through February 18, 2022, late Thursday night (November 2) after a week of threats by some Republican senators who objected to the Biden Administration vaccination policies. The House of Representatives reached a deal to extend funding beyond January, as Democrats had originally sought, and they compromised on the
The latest analysis from the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Colombia University on the impact of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) shows that the October Child Tax Credit payments kept 3.6 million children out of poverty. While that was being released, the advocacy community, including CWLA, are having increased concerns that these same families
On December 1, 2021, ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine published an article titled, ‘They Took Us Away From Each Other’: Lost Inside America’s Shadow Foster System” by reporter Lizzie Presser. The article details what some have labeled diversion from foster care by using informal kinship care placements. It doesn’t question kinship care, but
