Families USA held its 15th Annual Grassroots Meeting Health Action 2010 on January 28-30, 2010 in Washington, DC.  NASW was a cosponsor of the conference.  Some of the presenters included White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Sen. Al Franken, Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen, NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin.

To view, their presentations and more from the conference, go to: http://www.familiesusa.org/conference/health-action-2010/webcast.html

Recognizing the impact of the economic recession on working families, President Obama and Vice President Biden held a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force on January 25, 2010 to discuss ways to reduce the financial burden for this group and increase investments for them. Over the past year, the Task Force has held several meetings on this topic and their recommendations include the following:

1. An increased Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for families making under $85,000 a year. The administration also plans to provide a $1.6 billion increase in child care funding to help an additional 235,000 children.

2. A decrease in students’ federal loan payments to 10% of their income, referring to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) program, created by Congress in 2007. For more information about IBR or Public Service Loan Forgiveness, go to NASW’s loan forgiveness website at http://www.socialworkers.org/loanforgiveness/default.asp.

3. Creating a system of automatic workplace IRAs, requiring that employers give employees the option to enroll in a direct-deposit IRA.

4.Tax credits to match retirement savings and new safeguards to protect them.

5.Support for families balancing work with caring for elderly relatives, which is intended to help families manage multiple responsibilities and allow seniors to live in the community for as long as possible.

For more information about these initiatives or to review remarks by the President and Vice President at the Middle Class Task Force meeting, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/key-investments-middle-class-families.

Take Action!

S. 2837, The Child Welfare Workforce Improvement Act, was recently introduced by Senator Lincoln and aims to improve the child welfare workforce for the thousands of children and families who depend on this system every day. NASW lobbyists worked for many years to create this legislation, in collaboration with the Children’s Defense Fund and other coalition partners, and we are fully committed to enhancing the federal response to protect children and to prevent abuse and neglect. Highlights of the bill:

• A study that would result in recommendations to recruit and retain a high quality workforce to include training, workloads, and staff supervision.
• Flexible use of Title IV-E training dollars to support child welfare staff providing preventive, protective, reunification, and post-permanency services in addition to foster care, kinship guardianship, and adoption services.
• A demonstration grant program to help states and municipalities improve their workforce. Projects would focus on improving the child welfare systems’ ability to conduct needs assessments and secure resources.

Action Requested:

Please contact your Senator and ask them to cosponsor The Child Welfare Workforce Improvement Act (S. 2837). Let them know that passage of this important legislation will enable social workers and other professionals to improve the crucial services for children and families in the child welfare system.

Thanks for your advocacy!

To read the testimony click here.

On November 5, 2009, NASW submitted testimony in collaboration with the National Child Abuse Coalition, Washington, D.C., to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, regarding the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Congress has not yet introduced any legislation in the House or the Senate to reauthorize CAPTA. It is speculated that a bill may not emerge until next session as health care continues to dominate the legislative agenda.

The National Child Abuse Coalition, representing a collaboration of national organizations committed to strengthening the federal response to the protection of children and the prevention of child abuse and neglect, called on Congress to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) programs to provide the core federal policy and support for:

• strengthening the child protective services (CPS) infrastructure;
• promoting community-based services to prevent child maltreatment; and
• initiating research and development of innovative programs to advance the field of prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

Testimony highlighted key findings from NASW’s Workforce report, Assuring the Sufficiency of a Frontline Workforce: A National Study of Licensed Social Workers. The study warns of an impending shortage of social workers that threatens future services for all Americans, especially the most vulnerable among us, children and older adults.

Video: Can We Live up to the Social Work Legacy?

Please take a moment to view a video NASW just recorded for you regarding the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795/ S.686. This legislation is a first step to address serious workforce challenges such as low salaries, high educational debt, and safety concerns and will determine the best course of action to strengthen our profession. The bill is important to all social workers, and in this brief video we explain why leaders like Frances Perkins, Dorothy Height, and Whitney Young provide lessons for us to learn from and a legacy we must continue. NASW hopes we can count on our fellow social workers to stand up for our profession as we have always stood up for our clients.

NASW Attends Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference

On September 13-15 NASW attended the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference. On September 23-26, NASW attended the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference (ALC). The Public Policy Conference and the ALC featured issue forums that focused on issues ranging from poverty and economic issues to housing, health and veterans.

HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Senate Confirmation of Carmen Nazario as Assistant Secretary for Children and Families

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the United States Senate unanimously confirmed social worker Carmen Nazario as Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. In that role, she will oversee the Administration for Children and Families within HHS.

“Carmen Nazario has a distinguished record of more than 40 years working in human services at every level of government, as well as in the private and non-profit sectors,” said Secretary Sebelius.  “She has devoted her career to developing and implementing programs that promote the well-being of children and families, and she will build on that important work as Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.” (more…)

Watch the video archive of the August 27th Webcast on what pregnant women and new mothers can do to prepare for the H1N1 flu. Email questions were answered by the expert panel during the broadcast.

What Pregnant Women Should Know About H1N1 (swine) Flu

More Info

On October 7, the President signed into law the “Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893)” which Congress passed on September 17, 2008. This legislation targets specific deficiencies in the child welfare system and addresses some of the most important needs affecting foster children in America today, including extending federal foster care payments up to 21 years old, providing federal support for relatives caring for foster children, increasing access to foster care and adoption services to Native American tribes, and improving the oversight of the health and education needs of children in foster care. Major provisions of the bill include:

1. Helping Relatives Care For Foster Children – Continues federal assistance (at state option) to relatives assuming legal guardianship of eligible children for whom they have cared for as foster parents. Authorizes Family Connection Grants to increase involvement of relatives as caregivers and help them navigate public programs. Requires notification of close relatives when children are placed in foster care.

2. Extending Assistance to Foster Youth Up to the Age of 21 – Extends federal foster care payments up to the age of 19, 20 or 21 (at state option) for children living in supervised settings. Require youth receiving such assistance to be in school, work, or related activity. Extends adoption assistance and guardianship payments up to age 19, 20, or 21 (at state option) for children adopted or entering guardianship after attaining the age of 16.

3. Expanding Training Funds – Expands coverage of federal funds for the training of child welfare workers to include private agencies approved by the state.

4. Improving Oversight of Health Care – Includes overseeing plans for the health care needs of foster children, accounting for the assessment and treatment of health conditions and ensuring the continuity of care, medical records, and prescription drugs.

5. Promoting Educational Stability – Requires plan for ensuring the educational stability of children in foster care and mandate assurance of school attendance.

6. Increasing Aid for Tribal Foster Care – Provides direct federal foster care and adoption funding to tribal governments for children in their care.

7. Encouraging Sibling Placement – Requires reasonable efforts to place siblings together when removed from their homes.

8. Extending and Improving Adoption Incentives – Improves the Adoption Incentives Program for children adopted out of foster care, including increased bonuses for special needs and older child adoptions.

Next Steps

We will apprise you of any issues related to the administration or funding of this important legislation. Thanks for your advocacy.

Nancy McFall Jean, MSW
NASW Lobbyist

Take Action!

On September 17, 2008, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 6893, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893), by voice vote. This legislation targets specific deficiencies in the child welfare system and addresses some of the most important needs affecting foster children in America today, including extending federal foster care payments up to 21 years old, providing federal support for relatives caring for foster children, increasing access to foster care and adoption services to Native American tribes, and improving the oversight of the health and education needs of children in foster care. Major provisions of the bill include:

1. Helping Relatives Care For Foster Children – Continues federal assistance (at state option) to relatives assuming legal guardianship of eligible children for whom they have cared for as foster parents. Authorizes Family Connection Grants to increase involvement of relatives as caregivers and help them navigate public programs. Requires notification of close relatives when children are placed in foster care.

2. Extending Assistance to Foster Youth Up to the Age of 21 – Extends federal foster care payments up to the age of 19, 20 or 21 (at state option) for children living in supervised settings. Require youth receiving such assistance to be in school, work, or related activity. Extends adoption assistance and guardianship payments up to age 19, 20, or 21 (at state option) for children adopted or entering guardianship after attaining the age of 16.

3. Expanding Training Funds – Expands coverage of federal funds for the training of child welfare workers to include private agencies approved by the state.

4. Improving Oversight of Health Care – Includes overseeing plans for the health care needs of foster children, accounting for the assessment and treatment of health conditions and ensuring the continuity of care, medical records, and prescription drugs.

5. Promoting Educational Stability – Requires plan for ensuring the educational stability of children in foster care and mandate assurance of school attendance.

6. Increasing Aid for Tribal Foster Care – Provides direct federal foster care and adoption funding to tribal governments for children in their care. (more…)