On Monday, July 27, 2020, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released his party’s counter to the House of Representatives HEROES Act. The rest of last week left the impression that Senate Republicans are not sure about the next steps. The HEALS Act, as it has been labeled, is actually eight different bills from different members
While the Senate COVID-19 bill provides minimal state supplements, it does provide some funding through the Senate Finance Committee bill and the Senate Appropriations bill for limited child welfare programs. Funding includes an appropriation of $75 million through the Child Welfare Services (Title IV-B part 1),$50 million for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevent (CB-CAP) funds and $65 million for Family
There are several priorities CWLA holds for the next package that reach beyond “child welfare” but are critical to families and to future trends for child welfare caseloads. These can be as broad as tax rebates (that need to reach families that adopt, foster parents, kinship care and youth that transition from foster care) but
Last week, Arizona provided a directive to foster parents and relative caregivers that when schools reopen, children in foster care should be attending school. The Department has said they will consider some exceptions. The Arizona Department of Child Safety Director Mike Faust said in a public statement that he reached the decision based on consultation
On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, the Trump Administration announced a plan to limit the use of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Faced with a rejection by the U.S. Supreme Court to end the program, they are now attempting to restrict it. The Tuesday announcement said they would reject any new applicants and limit
New research from BMJ.Com (British Medical Journal) published in July provided evidence that state policies that limited the sale of handguns to people aged 18 or older (relative to 21 or older) were associated with an increase in the suicide rate among adolescents aged 18 to 20 years of age. The paper, State handgun purchase age
As the end of the week approached, Washington was still waiting for a complete initial package from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on what will be a fifth COVID-19 relief measure. Negotiations that had started within the White House on Monday between the President’s staff and Republican Congressional leaders from the House and Senate
The Foster Care Research Group at the University of San Francisco released preliminary results of the “Perspectives of Current and Former Foster Youth During COVID-19” that was conducted in May and June 2020. Responses included 127 young adults across the country between the ages of 18-26 assessing the needs, concerns, and strengths before, during, and
On Wednesday, July 22 the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) held the modified 2020 Foster Youth Internship Program congressional briefing webinar. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the twelve current and former foster youth interns (FYI 2020 cohort) spent their summer participating in a virtual internship where they provided policy solution to address four areas
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) produced a series of factsheets for young adults, ages 15-21. The factsheets cover a variety of topics, including what test results mean, how to stay safe at the pool or beach, how to wear a face covering and other preventive measures. Below are links to the resources:
