On Wednesday, March 13, the House Judiciary Committee approved a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), HR 1585. The legislation, sponsored by Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA) would reauthorize the historic law that was created as part of the 1994 crime bill. Democrats had sought more specific improvements to the law rather than a
Today, the President will release a part of his FY 2020 budget. The budget is scheduled for the first week of February but due to the government shutdown it was delayed. Today’s unveiling will be only part of the Administration’s proposal. It is expected that the Administration will propose a five percent cut in
Shaquita Ogletree The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a long-standing federal law protecting the well-being of Native children by upholding family integrity and stability within their community; and the “gold standard” in child welfare policy. October 2018, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that
Nick Cervone The Children’s Bureau, within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released a summary of their Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) program. YARH is a three-phase grant program to determine new and effective ways of preventing homelessness among youth and young adults who have been involved in the child welfare system.
Kylie Hunter The Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday, March 6, held a hearing, The Way Forward on Border Security. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kirstjen Nielsen was the main witness. Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) opened with remarks observing that since the last time the Committee met was a year
A reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is still in the evolutionary stage but while talks and discussions are taking place, CWLA and others are seeking significant increases in CAPTA state grants and the CB-CAP program. The increase CWLA and others are seeking is $500 million for Title I of CAPTA
Jay Williams While one committee was hearing from the Secretary of Homeland Security last week, the House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing on Protecting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Recipients. The witness panel included Jim Park - Rhodes Scholar, DACA Recipient, Yatta Kiazolu, UCLA Ph.D. Candidate, DED Recipient,
On Thursday, February 28, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) released the results of their nearly two year study on reducing child poverty in the United States, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty. CWLA President & CEO Chris James-Brown was one of the 15 member committee that studied the issue and wrote
Shaquita Ogletree On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, Zero to Three and Child Trends held the Think Babies Policy Forum and announced the release of the State of Babies Yearbook: 2019. “The first three years of a child’s life shape every year that follows, and the state where a baby is born makes a big difference
A reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) could move early this spring. Behind the scenes the key committees in the House and Senate have been working and discussing potential changes. The key committees are the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate HELP Committee. Although Congress has added to
