One early indication of the level of bipartisanship may come this week as the Senate HELP Committee uses its first full committee hearing to focus on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ESEA was last reauthorized in 2002 as the No Child Left Behind Act but it expired in 2007.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report, TANF Action Is Needed to Better Promote Employment-Focused Approaches that concludes there are effective strategies to move adults from public assistance (TANF) to work but that the current law and funding are limiting the use of these strategies by states. The GAO looked at ten programs,
The 114th Congress began last week formalizing the leadership choices and committee assignments and setting in motion some early legislative actions in both houses. This week the Senate is expected to begin debate on an approval of the Keystone pipeline. The debate is expected to take up to two weeks. On the House side members
This past November the Office of Inspector General at HHS issued an updated report on the challenges states are facing regarding the required health screening of children through Medicaid. The IG report indicated that health screenings have increased (nationally) from 56 percent in 2006 to 63 percent in 2013, but also found that both ratios
The Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (CICW), formerly the Migration and Child Welfare National Network (MCWNN), is in the process of issuing a series of seven policy papers on a number of critical child welfare and immigration issues. The CICW is focused on programs and policies related to immigrant children and families involved in
To coincide with National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) have released a PowerPoint presentation focusing on highlights of their report Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States. The presentation shares findings on how schools, law enforcement, victim
The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF), will hold a meeting open to the public on Monday, January 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, January 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (MST) at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, 340 North 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Individuals interested in attending
The new 114th Congress will begin this week on Tuesday. Most of the week will be about conducting the formal start up actions. That start up includes the selection of the various leaders, all returning from the last Congress with the Senate leaders swapping their majority/minority roles. We will also see the formal selection of
The next Congress will have the opportunity to reauthorize more than a dozen programs that have a significant impact on children but whether that happens seems less than likely. Generally federal programs are reauthorized for periods of four to five years. The reauthorization process is intended as a way to provide needed oversight but in
Although the new Congress starts this week, some of the key committee decisions were taking shape in the old Congress. An official announcement on committee changes will be made sometime this week. The all-important Senate Finance Committee had 13 Democrats and 11 Republicans. With the new Congress the powerful committee will now have 26 members instead of the
