A new study released through the Journal of Social Work estimates the cost of U.S. child poverty totals more than $1 trillion a year. The research, Estimating the Economic Cost of Childhood Poverty in the United States, indicates that these costs are concentrated around loss of economic productivity, increased crime and health care costs, and
Shaquita Ogletree Last Wednesday, April 11, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on additional legislation to deal with opioids. The legislation, The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, has been called by some a second version of the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The Committee released a discussion draft. The focus of
On Wednesday, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on additional legislation to deal with opioids. The legislation, The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, has been called by some a second version of the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The Committee released a discussion draft on April 4 with public comments
The biggest event last week was not the drama around a final FY 2018 budget bill but came on Saturday when several hundred thousand came to Washington to listen to a series of young people-children speak of the horrors of gun violence in the United States. Except for some limited celebrity entertainment in support of
The just-signed appropriations had a number of improvements for a child welfare advocacy community that does not normally experience. Congress was not “budget neutral”, e.g. we will increase child welfare funding if we cut child welfare funding in other areas. The increase in CAPTA is in fact historic rising from an ever-eroding base of $25
The $2.3 billion in new child care funding represents an historic increase not experienced since its inception in 1990 under the George H.W. Bush Administration. Other increases included the 1996 TANF law that included an influx of $1 billion over six years that also leveraged state matching funds. The next big increase came at the
The week started with the President in New Hampshire announcing his opioid abuse reduction plan and ended with Congress acting in a much bolder funding proposal. The President’s plan was thin on specifics but included a broad outline that included broad strokes of: • REDUCE DEMAND AND OVER-PRESCRIPTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative will educate Americans
In the end a fix for DACA was never really considered. Despite the President’s comments on Friday it appears that a DACA fix was never a serious point of negotiation. As one of the three key factions in any budget negotiation, the President could have drawn a line in the sand and demanded a fix.
On March 15, HHS published in the Federal Register two notices in regard to a delay in the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems (AFCARS). In the first notice, the Children’s Bureau is proposing to delay the AFCARS implementation rule (finalized in 2016) by two years. Comments for this proposed delay are due
Macey Shambery On March 14, the Children’s Home Society of America hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill. Panelists included Nancy Young, Executive Director of Children and Family Futures; James Madison, President and CEO of Beech Acres Parenting Center; and Terry and Jean Childs, Grandparents and Legal Guardians. Nancy Young started off the panel with a
