Older Youth

CWLA and Others Express Concerns on COVID-19 and Child Welfare

With the unveiling of the Republican coronavirus # 3, CWLA submitted a letter to Congress outlining some key child welfare concerns. It is challenging to make such recommendations because it isn’t clear how current practice and needs will change, and it isn’t clear how much Congress will spend in this third round of emergency funding.

House Works to Move on Covid-19 Virus Relief Package

After several days of back and forth, the House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, HR 6201, on Friday night. The House vote was 363 to 40. The Senate left on Thursday but is expected to take the legislation up this week after canceling their one week break. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Why We Need to Count All Kids in Census 2020

The Constitution requires an accurate count of the nation’s population-–a census–every ten years. Unfortunately, the 2010 census missed more than 10 percent of young children, about 2.2 million children, age four or younger. Unless we act, we might miss even more young children in 2020. When we miss young children in the census it has

Combatting Child Poverty in America

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee held a hearing on “Combating Child Poverty in America.” The hearing focused on how we can work to end child poverty and ways in which Congress can work “together with researchers, local leaders, and the communities themselves to meet that

U.S. Supreme Court to Take up Affordable Care Act

On Monday, March 2, 2020, the Supreme Court announced it will take up a case that could ultimately strike down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), that is what its opponents are hoping. It also means that the Court in the fall of 2020 will have several highly controversial cases to consider (along with the previous

1-Year Anniversary of the Reducing Child Poverty Roadmap Report

On Tuesday, March 3, 2020, the Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing entitled “Reducing Child Poverty.” Seven witnesses gave testimony: Dolores Acevedo-Garci, Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and Brandeis University, Douglas Besharov, Professor at the University of Maryland’s School of

The Connection Between Foster Care and Prison

On Monday, March 2, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted “Foster care and Prison: Connecting the (right) dots.” Naomi Schaefer Riley, a resident fellow at AEI, led the panel’s discussion on youth’s outcomes after involvement with the foster care and criminal justice systems. Laura Bauer, a journalist at Kansas City Star, shared results from the

Wyden-Warren Demand Answers on ICE Use of Child Therapy Notes

On March 2, 2020, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) demanded answers on reports that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was using confidential child therapy sessions notes in making deportation decisions. The Washington Post reported on how Kevin Euceda, a young Honduran who had arrived as an unaccompanied minor in

Family Judge’s Role in Ensuring Timely and Safe Family Reunification

On March 4, 2020, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) hosted a briefing, “Ensuring Timely and Safe Family Reunification: A Juvenile and Family Court Judge’s Role in Providing Hope for a Better Future.” The event was sponsored by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), who closed the event by sharing his plan identified

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