On July 16, the Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee held a hearing entitled Strengthening Federal Support to End Youth Homelessness. Chairwoman Bonamici (D-OR) stated in her opening statement that it is a “responsibility to provide every child and youth with a safe and stable environment to learn and grow.” She noted that the Runaway
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an opinion on July 15, 2019 telling Congress that recent changes the Administration made to the ACA waiver authority were significant enough to allow for congressional review because it is a new federal “rule.” As a result, it is subject to congressional oversight and requires certain reporting to
On July 16, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on “Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System” to examine the exponential growth of women being incarcerated for nonviolent offenses since the 1980s. In Chairwoman Bass’ (D-CA) opening statement, she noted many consequences of mass incarceration, such as
A new study published in PEDIATRICS offers evidence that states with stricter gun laws including laws requiring universal background checks for firearm purchase had lower firearm-related pediatric mortality rates. Pointing out that firearms are the second lead cause of pediatric deaths, the authors said: “In this 5-year analysis, states with stricter gun laws and laws
Congress continued to focus and debate immigration policy through a series of actions last week. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform held two hearing on Wednesday, “Kids in Cages: Inhumane Treatment at the Border” and a hearing, “The Trump Administration’s Child Separation Policy: Substantiated Allegations of Mistreatment” on Friday. In addition there were several
Last month, when the House of Representatives approved a four-bill appropriations package that included appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (by a vote of 226-to 203) they included an important improvement for child abuse prevention. The final House appropriation for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) received a $35 million increase to
On Wednesday, June 10, 2019 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDPA) and the Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center conducted a webinar “Tele-Mental Health: The Clinician’s Perspective” to discuss the need for web-based psychotherapy sessions. The webinar also addressed issues that arise with trying to deliver virtual therapy. Christopher Walsh, Director of Operations
Congress gave final approval to a border funding bill totaling approximately $4.6 billion negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats. The final bill approved in the House by a vote of 305 to 102 included a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Many House Democrats were unhappy about the fact that, earlier in the week, a Democrats-only
Last week the Child Welfare League of America endorsed and signed onto a national letter of support for two bills by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) that would extend protections and rights to children and families that have been separated by U.S. immigration policies. The two bills are the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for
On June 24, the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at the Brookings Institution held an event Improving Opportunity Through Access to Family Planning. The event was based on the recent Brookings report Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy: Lessons from the States by Isabel V. Sawhill and Katherine Guyot. The focus of the event was to highlight
