On October 12, 2021, Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau Aysha Schomburg, issued a letter to the child welfare community urging continued vigilance in assisting young people who exit foster care and to be proactive in reaching out and helping. The end of federal fiscal year 2021 on September 30, 2021, meant the expiration of
Last week’s news break by National Public Radio (NPR) that the U.S. Department of Education will offer a fix of the troubled public services loan forgiveness program proved to be true when the US Department of Education announced on Wednesday, October 6, new efforts that “Will Put Over 550,000 Public Service Workers Closer to Loan
Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a long-awaited report on whether states are reinvesting the significant savings they realized when the federal Adoption Assistance program was de-linked from the AFDC eligibility standards. The GAO report: CHILD WELFARE: Better Data and Guidance Could Help States Reinvest Adoption Savings and Improve Federal Oversight indicated
In 2008 when Congress enacted the Fostering Connections to Success Act, one of the most significant parts was a gradual “de-link” of Adoption Assistance from the old AFDC link. As is still the case with Title IV-E foster care and kinship care placements today, federal funding for children in care is only provided if a
Unable to get Senate Republicans to agree to a suspension or raising of the debt ceiling, Congressional Democrats took out the debt ceiling fix and were able to get Republican senators to adopt a continuing resolution sending it to the President’s desk before the start of the fiscal year on Friday, October 1, 2021. The
While Congress continues to wrestle with a reconciliation package, they also must deal with the start of the fiscal year 2022 on October 1, 2021. Aside from the reconciliation, which doesn’t have an actual deadline, there is a need to provide funding for the new fiscal year by October 1. At the same time Congress
In what is likely to be a long fall involving infrastructure, reconciliation, and appropriations, the Senate took its first significant steps late last week with the announcement of a bipartisan infrastructure deal. On late Wednesday, July 28, a deal to address the nation’s infrastructure was announced, and a vote to move forward on the still-developing
The House of Representatives moved on two significant bills last week that included funding for 9 of the 12 appropriations bills. The first “minibus” appropriations rolled together seven bills, including the appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS), Agriculture, Energy and Water, Financial Services, Interior, Military Construction, and Transportation-Housing are rolled
Families have started to receive their monthly payments of the expanded Child Tax Credit!! Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, families can receive up to $300 per month for children under the age of 6, and $250 per month for children ages 6-17. As state and local community-based organizations, you know how important these resources are
Last week the House Appropriations Committee passed through the subcommittee (Monday, July 12, 2021) and then through the full committee on Wednesday (July 14, 2021) the appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS). The $253 billion appropriations for the three departments passed out of full committee by a vote