On Wednesday, October 30, Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced bipartisan and bicameral legislation, the Childhood Outcomes Need New Efficient Community Teams or CONNECT Act, H.R. 4911. This legislation would provide competitive grants that would enhance the collaboration between both the child welfare and the juvenile justice system to collaborate on
On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, the District of Columbia became the first state to have their Family First Prevention Plan, “Putting Families First in DC,” approved by the Children’s Bureau under the federal Family First Prevention Services Act. . DC was the first jurisdiction to submit their plan. Arkansas, Kentucky, and Utah plans are pending
November is National Adoption Month—a time to recognize the importance of family and lift up the voices of youth in foster care. This National Adoption Month, we’re joining the Every Child Deserves a Family campaign to advocate for an end to discrimination in child welfare. Too often, youth in care are denied loving, identity-affirming homes
Last week we noted that the Children’s Bureau released the latest history of the Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentives Payment Program—Earnings History by State. The table also shows the state awards for FY 2019. A few days later, the Bureau published the individual categories of awards for each state. The individual categories of awards that
While general budget talks continued last week, it comes against a backdrop of increasing budget shortfalls. In early October 2019, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected its near-final report on the 2019 federal budget deficit. The deficit rose to just under $1 trillion for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, with the total
In the United States, the high price of child care remains a burden on many American families, regardless of marital status and income. This is extremely troubling considering the benefits of high-quality child care to parents and caregivers and their children. On October 23, 2019 Child Care Aware® of America held a briefing on their
Last week Congressman Danny Davis introduced HR 4768, the Home Visiting to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Act. The legislation will increase funding for the home visiting program, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. The Davis bill will increase funding from the current $400 million in mandatory funding to $600 million
Last week the Act 4 Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) released a new document, Family First Prevention Services Act: Opportunities and Risks for Youth Justice and Campaigns to End Youth Incarceration.” The guide was developed by Lisa Pilnik on behalf of Youth First, with contributions and feedback from several other organizations. Major federal legislation brought changes to
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) latest report on “Foster Care: Education Could Help States Improve Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care,” examined the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provisions related to the educational stability of youth in foster care. ESSA requirements as it relates to improving educational stability for youth in
Despite Congress’s return this past week, the fate of the FY 2020 budget is no clearer. With FY 2020 appropriations expiring on November 21, reports in Washington media outlets, including the Washington Post, indicate that the President has drawn a line in the sand over his desire to have more funding for the Mexico-U.S. border
