On Friday, September 22, 2023, First Focus on Children released its annual Children’s Budget Book in a live event hosted by the Senate Budget Committee. Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) opened the event, stating, “there is no better investment the Federal government can make than in children and families. We save $7 for every $1 we
On September 11, 2023, the United States Census Bureau released Poverty in the United States: 2022, the annual report that measures the economic wellbeing of households, families, and individuals in the United States. This report provides estimates of two measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM); the SPM is
On September 14th, 2023, The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance held a hearing to examine child sex trafficking, the increase in child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) online, and how social media and big tech companies perpetuate these issues within the United States and around the world. The hearing began with an
On September 13, 2023, Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Child Care Stabilization Act to extend vital federal child care stabilization funding, which is
On September 12, 2023 the Senate Judiciary Committee held "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature," to discuss the constitutional right to knowledge through literature. Charman Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the debate with extensive history of book banning in the United States. He asserts that banning books does not come from the effort
On September 15, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights announced a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would add new provisions that clarify existing requirements under section 504 prohibiting recipients of financial assistance from the Department (recipients) from discriminating on the basis of disability in their programs
The Capacity Building Center for States hosted a webinar on September 13th entitled “Keeping Youth at the Center of Kinship Care Practice: Prioritizing Relationships, Community, and Culture”. They brought together three different presenting groups from California, Connecticut, and Alaska to talk about the benefits of kinship care and the different navigator programs that they have
On July 13th, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) designed to improve affordability and access to care options for families and promote financial stability of child care providers participating in the federal child care subsidy program under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This
On September 12th, 2023 the U.S. Department of Education released a “Dear Colleague Letter” to Chief State School Officers asking States to modify their administrative procedures to expedite spending American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) funds. These funds, that must be obligated by September of 2024, provide supports for students experiencing homelessness who
The Food Research Action Center (FRAC) hosted a webinar on September 11, 2023, about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) entitled “Foster Youth, Unhoused, and Veterans Now Temporarily Exempt from Time Limits”. The four panelists discussed the three groups that will no longer be affected by SNAP time limits starting this month, and the best
