A new study from researchers at Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NI), suggest that well-funded anti-poverty measures can improve both brain development and mental health in children. Past research has shown that childhood poverty has a negative long-term impact along various outcome measures, like lower
On Wednesday, April 26th, 2023, House Republicans passed their budget and debt limit bill along party lines. As noted last week, the legislation would raise the debt ceiling into next year in exchange for freezing spending at last year’s levels for a decade — a nearly 14 percent cut — as well as rolling back
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) reintroduced the Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA) on April 27th. Introduced every Congress since 2017, the legislation would address the ongoing crisis in child care by making it affordable for families and addressing the child care shortages that have, in many cases, made it
On April 27, 2023, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Representative Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) introduced the bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. According to Representative Khanna’s press release, “this bipartisan, bicameral bill would provide greater oversight and data transparency for institutional youth treatment
On April 20th, 2023, Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) offered an Extension of Remarks recognizing Christine James-Brown, President and CEO of CWLA, honoring her upcoming retirement from the organization. From the remarks: "Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the exceptional service of Christine James-Brown, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Child Welfare
The Children's Bureau's National Foster Care Month campaign recognizes the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families. This year’s theme, “Strengthening Minds. Uplifting Families.” highlights the need to take a holistic and culturally responsive approach to supporting the mental health needs of those involved with
On April 28th, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2021 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This survey is the largest public health surveillance system in the United States, monitoring a broad range of health-related behaviors among high school students. The 2021 surveys were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and
On Thursday, April 27, 2023, Child Trends announced that its State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States interactive has been updated with the latest available data. “This comprehensive resource offers state-level and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship care, and permanency. These data help stakeholders understand the rates at which
State Child Abuse & Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database users can now download new state profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Each state profile contains summary tables with the definitions and policies pertaining to the incidence of child abuse, neglect, and related risk in that state to
On Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, House Republicans unveiled legislation that would pair lifting the debt ceiling with steep budget cuts and budget caps for the next ten years. Speaker McCarthy is expected to call a vote on the measure this week, although it’s not certain that he currently has enough votes to pass it through
