Earlier this month, the House Research and Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis legislative offices published "side-by-side" comparisons of the House and Senate Health and Human Service Omnibus bills. As of last week the Senate File (2039) has been absorbed by the House File (2294). Because of this, the following overview of the side-by-side comparison [...]
This month the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare has three new Policy Briefs available online. CASCW's Policy Briefs aim to explore how the field of child welfare interacts with policy and research. The Briefs serve as a "user's guide" for policy makers and advocates, pointing to the articles most directly linked to policy [...]
H.F. 2080 (S.F. 1883) is an MFIP ineligibility and sanctions bill that made the legislative committee rounds during February. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-17A) and has 12 cosponsors. As of today, 2080 is waiting to be heard in the House Health and Human Service Finance Committee, but that hearing has not [...]
On Tuesday, February 21, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) released their evaluation report on Child Protection Screening. That same day,The Health and Human Services Reform Committee heard testimony from eight individuals representing agencies ranging from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to local nonprofits. The purpose of the Committee hearing was to present [...]
Last week, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare in partnership with the Center for Early Education and Development released the winter edition of CW360° entitled: "Using a Developmental Approach in Child Welfare Practice." CW360° is a magazine-length, standalone publication which uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine a prominent issue in the field of [...]
On January 11, United Front hosted the 2012 Children and Youth Issues Briefing in St. Paul, which was described as an event to "celebrate recent successes, identify issues of importance for the 2012 legislative session and learn more about innovative initiatives making a difference in our communities." The briefing began with an overview of the [...]
On December 20th, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) introduced H.R. 3741: Rilya Wilson Act (no relation to the Representative), which aims to "protect foster children and to ensure that every state has a procedure in place to promptly report their disappearance." Essentially, this bill would require child welfare agencies to report missing or abducted children to [...]
On November 15th, Sen. Robert Casey proposed S1872: Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2011. This bill (also, H.R. 3423) would allow families to create savings accounts that can be used for the health and education of a family member with a disability. Sen. Casey introduced the bill specifically to give parents of [...]