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Bill Would Increase Home Visiting Funding
Representatives McDermott, Danny Davis and Todd Platts introduced the Early Support for Families Act (HR 2667) on June 2. The bill would provide mandatory funding to states to create and expand early childhood home visitation programs. The legislation was the focus of a hearing last week by The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. The hearing reviewed proposals to provide funding for grants to states to support early childhood home visitation programs. (Open Congress.) Click here.
Act Protects Vital Medicaid Services
Senator Debbie A. Stabenow recently re-introduced the Medicaid Services Restoration Act (S. 1217) that would protect vital Rehabilitative and Targeted Case Management (TCM) services for vulnerable populations, including children in the child welfare and foster care systems. The legislation is necessary to clearly define the TCM options and to provide a transparent funding stream for therapeutic foster care. (CWLA). Click here
Paid Sick Leave Legislation Benefits Low-income Workers
Senator Edward M Kennedy and Senator Christopher Dodd recently introduced the "Healthy Families Act" (S. 1152). This legislation would require most employers to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave for workers. Almost half of private sector workers have no paid sick time, the majority of which are low-income workers. Currently, many workers have to choose between losing a day's pay to care for themselves or a sick child. Click here.
Bill Reintroduced to Help Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness
Representatives Pete Stark, Mary Bono Mack and Dave Camp, recently reintroduced the Healthy Transition Act. The bill provides assistance to adolescents and young adults with serious mental health disorders as they transition to adulthood. The bill would provide planning and implementation grants to states to develop statewide coordination plans to help adolescents and young adults with serious mental illness. Click here.
Act Promotes Family Unity
The Reuniting American Families act, a bill to address family-based immigration, was introduced in the U.S. Senate last month. The bill sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez would ensure that families are reunited in a timely manner by removing the annual cap on the number of visas. This would allow immediate family members to reunite with legal permanent residents sooner and more efficiently. (Open Congress). Click here.
Youth Agencies Push to Reintroduce Child Safety Legislation
The National Assembly, First Focus, America’s Promise, MENTOR and other youth service organizations are lending their voice to help reintroduce the Child Protection Improvements Act and seek its passage this year. The legislation would create a permanent, streamlined system to allow youth-serving organizations access to nationwide FBI fingerprint searches that are timely and affordable. It is based on the PROTECT Act pilot (SafetyNET), which mentoring organizations and others have been testing for nearly five years. Click here.
Committee Holds Hearing on Section 8 Voucher Reform
On June 4, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA). The hearing reviewed how to improve the funding and administration for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. SEVRA is expected to be officially introduced in the House as early as mid-June. Click here.
Father Involvement Benefits Infants' Cognitive Development
Fathers' involvement in a wide range of activities with their infant children is positively associated with infant cognitive development, according to a Child Trends study. It also shows that the benefits of father involvement for infants' cognitive development are greater for male infants and for infants with a disability. Click here. Also check out Ten Promising Practices for Fatherhood Programs.
Afterschool Programs Strengthen Communities
Many neighborhoods lack safe places for youth to gather and socialize. Afterschool programs are uniquely suited to fill this void and become a safe space for both kids and parents to gather to learn, play and connect. Afterschool programs have the power to reduce crime, increase safety, bring neighbors together, and foster community pride and ownership. (AfterSchool Alliance). Click here
Unemployment Insurance Reform to Benefit Rural Families
Modernizing federal-state unemployment insurance programs to include part-time workers can significantly aid rural workers and their families. This brief from the Carsey Institute examines how states can take advantage of stimulus package provisions to make significant reforms to their UI programs. Click here.
State Spending on Substance Abuse Treatment Minimal
A CASA report found that of $373.9 billion in federal and state spending went to shovel up the consequences and human wreckage of substance abuse and addiction; only 1.9% went to prevention and treatment and 0.4% to research. The report found that the largest amount of federal and state government spending on the burden of substance abuse and addiction was for health care. The second largest amount was spent on justice systems, including incarceration, probation, parole, criminal, juvenile and family courts. Click here.
Children of Immigrants More Likely to be Poor
The Population Reference Bureau’s report examines the rapidly changing racial/ethnic composition of the U.S. population, and some important challenges children in immigrant families face. Children of immigrants are more likely to be poor than non-immigrant children, even though they are also more likely to live in married-couple families and to have a parent employed fulltime. Click here.
Low-income Americans Have Fewer Treatment Options
Low-income Americans experience disproportionately higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care. It is vital that health reform reduces costs to make health care affordable; protects a patient's choice of doctors, hospitals, and insurance plans; invests in prevention and wellness; and assures quality, affordable health care for all Americans. (Health Reform). Click here.
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