On March 13, 2023, the Department of Justice held the Fiscal Year 2024 President’s Budget Rollout Stakeholders Briefing. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta delivered the opening remarks. Jolene Lauria, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, summarized the budget allocated to the DOJ. The DOJ will have $5 billion to allocate towards state and local assistance and
On March 14th, 2023, President Biden presented a new executive order, Executive Order on Reducing Gun Violence and Making Our Communities Safer, regarding gun policy in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California this January. The executive order tasks the Attorney General Merrick Garland and various Administration Secretaries with shoring up “red
On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the Children’s Bureau announced the resumption of Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews. Due to the pandemic, the Title IV-E Reviews to monitor child welfare agencies’ compliance in meeting certain child welfare eligibility requirements had been suspended in March 2020. Their review will start up again at the start of
The Urban Institute hosted a webinar on March 7, 2023, that reviewed their recent research report on Education and Training Vouchers (ETVs). The report highlights the various barriers that prevent youth in foster care from attending higher education and ultimately had a sample inclusion of over 125,000 young people (ages 16 and above) in foster
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released a new report exploring the impact of President Biden’s Child Tax Credit proposal. ITEP estimates that 55 million children would be impacted by the expansion and that millions would be lifted out of poverty. Under the American Rescue Plan Act, the temporary expansion of the CTC
In an article by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the racial disparities in sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) were examined. While general infant mortality rates have continuously fallen in the US through 2020, SUID rates have remained stagnant. Moreover, in 2020 researchers discovered a rise in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates, as well as
On March 15th, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a new report about the harms of work requirements in safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. The report notes that most working-age adults receiving assistance from these programs are already working for pay or they are temporarily between
On Thursday, March 9, 2023, President Biden released his budget. It was a partial release with more details to be released this week. CWLA will have a more complete review later this week. Overall, the Administration proposes increases in the human services areas of the budget and medical services while proposing a projected reduction in
On March 10th, 2023, the House Ways and Means Committee hosted a hearing with Treasury Secretary Yellen about President Biden’s budget, released the day prior. The hearing, which lasted more than three hours, was an opportunity for the new majority party to press the Secretary on many of the fiscal policies of the Biden Administration
On March 8th, 2023, House Ways and Means Work & Welfare Ranking Member Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth Co-chair Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) re-introduced the Foster Youth and Driving Act, legislation that would increase the economic and social independence of youth in care by helping them obtain their driver’s licenses.
