Last week on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee moved forward on the nominations to fill the leads for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Administration on Children Youth and Families (ACYF). Rebecca Jones-Gaston was nominated by President Biden for the ACYF position on November 18, 2021. January Contreras was
The Biden Administration has proposed reversing the Public Charge rule that was put in place during the previous administration to deny green card applicants who receive certain government benefits. This rule has caused individuals to decline government benefits that were available to them, fearing that it will tamper with their green card eligibility. Reversing this
On Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis held a hearing that highlighted “COVID Child Care Challenges: Supporting Families and Caregivers”. Chairmen Clyburn (D-SC) opening remarks noted that “46% of childcare providers reported in summer 2021 they were likely to close without government relief packages”. He went on to state that
On March 2nd, 2022, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) hosted a webinar on Shortages in the Education Labor Force. The webinar opened with the CEF Executive Director, Sarah Abernathy, discussing the need for greater federal investment in education. Currently, education accounts for less than 2% of federal spending, with regular education funding remaining flat
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein, and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Mobility Carmel Martin hosted a conversation with parents and their children at the White House to discuss their struggles with finding and affording childcare
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of Black Americans who lack medical insurance has fallen significantly with the percentage of Black Americans who were uninsured decreasing by 8 percentage points from 2011 to 2019. Unfortunately, when compared to White populations, percentages of Black Americans uninsured are still comparatively high. Further, this
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health estimates in a new modeling study that more than 5.2 million children globally have lost their parents or caregivers to COVID-19 through October 2021, equating to 1 child every 6 seconds. The study found more fathers than mothers died, and adolescents were more likely to be orphaned than younger
A new publication from the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends primary preventive services that reduce the perpetration of intimate partner violence and sexual violence among youth. Based on a systematic review of 28 studies, the CPSTF found evidence that prevention strategies that utilized one or more of three strategies were successful in reducing
According to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of maternal deaths rose during the first year of the pandemic. Data from the National Vital Statistics System show that in 2020, 861 women were identified as having died of maternal causes in the United States, compared with 754
Several stories of youth being maltreated by residential staff have recently been reported in the news. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report on February 23, 2022, after being asked to review these instances of maltreatment in federally funded residential facilities. State and local agencies are primarily responsible for addressing these concerns, but
