On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the Children’s Bureau announced the resumption of Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews. Due to the pandemic, the Title IV-E Reviews to monitor child welfare agencies’ compliance in meeting certain child welfare eligibility requirements had been suspended in March 2020. Their review will start up again at the start of
House and Senate Leaders have made clear their intention to complete committee assignments for the 118th Congress before the end of January. By the end of next week, we should know who will serve on each of the House and Senate Committees. Several key committees are already taking shape, particularly in the House of Representatives.
On January 26th, 2023, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and his colleagues Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Joaquin Castro, Andy Kim, Jamaal Bowman, Rob Menendez, Dan Goldman, Joe Neguse, launched the Congressional Dads Caucus to bring attention to and build support for policies that benefit working families. According to the National Women’s Law Center’s (NWLC) press release, “the
CSH released a new, first-of-its-kind national needs assessment of supportive housing, which was developed by looking at data across a spectrum of public systems and found that an estimated 1,125,000 homes are needed to meet the need for supportive housing. From the Summary: “Supportive housing is affordable housing with flexible services that help vulnerable people
On January 18th, 2023, the Children’s Bureau Learning and Coordination Center (CBLCC) hosted a national webinar with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) focused upon child trafficking. Featuring NCMEC Executive Director, Melissa Snow, the digital dialogue specifically focused upon understanding the types of child sex trafficking (CST), shifting the language and perspective
After 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy has secured enough votes to become the 53rd Speaker of the House of Representatives. Since 2006, Speaker McCarthy has served California’s 23rd district in Congress. After he was elected to Congress, Speaker McCarthy became Chief Deputy Whip and later served as Majority Whip. In 2014, he was elected
On January 6th, 2023, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth (CCFY) announced that it will be co-chaired by Congressmembers Gwen Moore (D-WI), Don Bacon (R-NE), Sydney Kamlager (D-CA), and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA). CCFY is one of the largest bipartisan caucuses in the House of Representatives and the new leaders are committed to improving the
On December 22nd, just before the end of the Congress, the Senate confirmed Rebecca Jones Gaston as the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, at the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Before her appointment by President Biden to ACYF, Jones-Gaston was the Child
On Tuesday, December 13th, 2022, President Biden signed bipartisan legislation to safeguard marriage equality after Congress approved federal protections for same-sex marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act repeals the 1996 law known as the Defense of Marriage Act that the Supreme Court found to be largely unconstitutional in a 2013 decision and includes some religious
Midterm elections were held around the country on Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, and the votes are still being tallied in many places. At this time, several key races are still too close to call, and neither party has officially secured control of the House. Democrats are expected to retain a majority in the Senate, even