Children’s Monitor

Decriminalize Being in Foster Care: Policy Recommendations

The Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council held a webinar on November 20, 2023, to discuss their recommendations for decriminalizing the foster care system and preventing foster youth from entering the juvenile justice system. The panelists shared stories of three African American youth who were killed by law enforcement while in the foster care

Free School Meals for All: Webinar

The Food Research and Action Center held a webinar on November 30, 2023 to discuss the benefits and need for free school meals, regardless of household income, to be provided to all children. These benefits include students being ready to learn, reduced stigma in the lunchroom, the end of school meal debt, and more. There

Supporting Engaged Fatherhood and Family Well-Being

On Wednesday, November 29th, the Institute for Research on Poverty hosted a webinar entitled “Supporting Engaged Fatherhood and Family Wellbeing: The Role of Policy from the Community Level to the Federal Level.” They brought together four presenters to talk about the role of fathers in the family unit and some of the barriers those fathers

Survey of Congressional Priorities Across Race

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released a new report entitled “Building a More Inclusive Agenda: A Survey of Congressional Priorities Across Race”. Looking at how diversity benefits society as a whole and the ways that race-conscious policies benefit historically underserved racial and ethnic groups underscores how important it is to promote equality.

Government Funding Extended into 2024

Congress averted another government shutdown last week, passing the “laddered” continuing resolution CR proposal through both chambers. The House passed the bill, which was introduced by Speaker Johnson (R-LA) last weekend, on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, with a bipartisan vote of 336-95 and meeting the two-thirds standard needed to pass bills under suspension of the

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on Social Media and the Teen Mental Health Crisis

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the law had a hearing on November 7th about social media and the teen mental health crisis. Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) opened the hearing by introducing the witness, former Director of Engineering for Protection and Care at Facebook turned Meta whistleblower, Aturo Béjar. Senator Blumenthal described Mr.

Information Memorandum on Child Welfare and Education Collaboration

On November 15, 2023, the Children’s Bureau released an Information Memorandum (IM) entitled, “Interagency Collaboration between Child Welfare and Educational Agencies to Support the Academic Success of Children and Youth in Foster Care,” to remind state and tribal title IV-E agencies of the school enrollment and educational stability requirements for students in foster care included

Medicaid Coverage of Health-Related Social Needs

On November 16, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new guidance that explains that a person’s health-related social needs (HRSN) are “derived from a person-specific assessment of social determinants of health (SDOH),” and that research has demonstrated that addressing SDOH and meeting HRSN has a positive impact on a person’s health

The Intersection of Housing and Food Insecurities: Webinar

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) hosted a webinar on November 16, 2023, entitled "Fighting Hunger with Housing: Actions and Updates for Advocates." They explored the connection between a lack of housing security and food stability, and the adverse health impacts resulting from the inability to afford and access reliable food sources. Hunger and

Public Funding for Children and Youth: Interactive Data

Children’s Funding Project held a webinar entitled, “National Funding for Children and Youth” to launch their report on their pilot State Child and Youth Fiscal Map Cohort platform. The map includes data for Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and New York on where their

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