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LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS ARCHIVES


Historic Health Reform Legislation Now Becomes Law

On March 23, President Obama signed the comprehensive health reform bill into law. The health care overhaul measure expands affordable health coverage to roughly 32 million Americans and makes significant reforms to basic insurance coverage. Provisions affecting child welfare include a $1.5 billion Title V Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visitation Program. Now that the bill has passed, federal funding will be granted to Title V agencies for the purpose of serving low-income mothers and their babies. Pregnant women, fathers, primary caregivers and foster parents may also participate in home visitation services. States must ensure that home visitation services are voluntary for this population and that staff are well-trained and have access to high-quality supervision. This funding is available for five years. This year's amount of $100 million must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2010.

Home visitation models must also be grounded in empirically based knowledge and reach four of the six benchmarks at the end of the third year. These benchmarks are as followed: improvement in maternal child health, school readiness and achievement, family economic self-sufficiency; crime or domestic violence and child maltreatment. Failure to demonstrate improvements will result in funding termination. Technical assistance is available to help states address performance. There must also be quality service delivery and continuous program improvements. In addition, these models must have been in existence for three years, be research-based and have a well-designed and rigorous randomized controlled or quasi-experimental research design.

The home visitation provisions make it clear that collaboration is critical to better meet the needs of the population being served. It requires Title V agencies to collaborate with child welfare agencies as well as other agencies that generally assist this group.

As a prerequisite for receiving grant funds, states must conduct a mandatory needs assessment, which must be coordinated with other assessments such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Early Head Start Act. This needs assessment must be completed by September 2010. If the assessment is not completed, the state will lose its FY 2011 Title V grant.

In addition to home visitation, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) championed a provision in the new health reform overhaul that would require states to provide Medicaid coverage to youth aging out of foster care up to age 26. The language was modified throughout the health reform debate. This provision would be effective in 2014. In addition, unmarried young adults not covered by their employer could be added to their parents' medical insurance or purchase affordable coverage up until this age. However, this provision was effective upon the bill's signage. Persons of all ages could no longer be rejected by insurance companies if they have a pre-existing condition.

The new law includes a refundable adoption tax credit that would permit adoptive parents to claim their 2010 and 2011 adoption expenses. Effective Oct. 1, 2010, states must include information on health-care power of attorneys to youth's transition plans.

NAPCWA Policy Updates


The National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators provides updates on the most recent federal child welfare policy news and events. This information is relevant to mostly state and local child welfare agencies.

NAPCWA is dedicated to enhance and improve the development and implementation of national, state and local policy that advances the field and enables organizations to effectively perform on behalf of children, youth and their families.

Find the most recent testimonies, statements for the record, letters to Congress and the Administration, summaries and bill comparison charts on NAPCWA's legislative affairs webpage.



NAPCWA Writes Letter to HELP Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Reauthorization


ACF to Issue New Fostering Connections Guardianship Assistance Program Instruction

In an exciting new development, the Administration for Children and Families informed the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislators and National Association of Counties about their intentions to change policy on the new federal Guardianship Assistance Program. On December 24, 2008 ACF issued program instructions that only allowed states to claim federal reimbursement for new cases. States operating existing programs would not be able to claim cases finalized before the passage of Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351) on October 7, 2008.

Thirty seven states and the District of Columbia have operated similar programs prior to Fostering Connections' passage. These programs are primarily supported through state funds. Currently, pre-existing placements in these states are ineligible for the new federal program. If ACF expands their interpretation of the PI, those pre-existing guardianship placements could be eligible. Several states have submitted Title IV-E state plan amendments and would be able to update them to reflect the change in policy. New program instructions will be released soon and immediately placed on the website.


House Ways and Means Committee Releases Revised Green Book

Recently, the House Ways and Means Committee released the revised version of the Green Book. The child welfare section includes policies related to the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoption Act, which was passed in October 2008.

It also provides updated information about Title IV-B and IV-E programs as well as other federal funding streams. The child welfare section of the Green Book is located at here.

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Congress Will Soon Introduce Legislation on Runaway Youth

In January, a New York Times article indicated that state and federal lawmakers have been working on legislation to improve the lives of runaway youth and prostituted children. House and Senate Democratic leaders are developing legislation to help police track information on these youth and social service entities to provide early intervention to help reduce this population. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) have requested GAO to conduct a study on these issues.

Currently, there are at least 10 states that have either introduced or passed legislation focusing on extending outreach efforts and shelter resources and modifying reporting requirements to assist runaway youth. To learn more about what states are doing, please see the New York Times article "Legislators Work to Improve Laws on Runaways," which can be found at here.


Historic Health Reform Legislation Now Becomes Law

On March 23, President Obama signed the comprehensive health reform bill into law. The health care overhaul measure expands affordable health coverage to roughly 32 million Americans and makes significant reforms to basic insurance coverage. Provisions affecting child welfare include a $1.5 billion Title V Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visitation Program. Now that the bill has passed, federal funding will be granted to Title V agencies for the purpose of serving low-income mothers and their babies. Pregnant women, fathers, primary caregivers and foster parents may also participate in home visitation services. States must ensure that home visitation services are voluntary for this population and that staff are well-trained and have access to high-quality supervision. This funding is available for five years. This year's amount of $100 million must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2010.

Home visitation models must also be grounded in empirically based knowledge and reach four of the six benchmarks at the end of the third year. These benchmarks are as followed: improvement in maternal child health, school readiness and achievement, family economic self-sufficiency; crime or domestic violence and child maltreatment. Failure to demonstrate improvements will result in funding termination. Technical assistance is available to help states address performance. There must also be quality service delivery and continuous program improvements. In addition, these models must have been in existence for three years, be research-based and have a well-designed and rigorous randomized controlled or quasi-experimental research design.

The home visitation provisions make it clear that collaboration is critical to better meet the needs of the population being served. It requires Title V agencies to collaborate with child welfare agencies as well as other agencies that generally assist this group.

As a prerequisite for receiving grant funds, states must conduct a mandatory needs assessment, which must be coordinated with other assessments such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Early Head Start Act. This needs assessment must be completed by September 2010. If the assessment is not completed, the state will lose its FY 2011 Title V grant.

In addition to home visitation, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) championed a provision in the new health reform overhaul that would require states to provide Medicaid coverage to youth aging out of foster care up to age 26. The language was modified throughout the health reform debate. This provision would be effective in 2014. In addition, unmarried young adults not covered by their employer could be added to their parents' medical insurance or purchase affordable coverage up until this age. However, this provision was effective upon the bill's signage. Persons of all ages could no longer be rejected by insurance companies if they have a pre-existing condition.

The new law includes a refundable adoption tax credit that would permit adoptive parents to claim their 2010 and 2011 adoption expenses. Effective Oct. 1, 2010, states must include information on health-care power of attorneys to youth's transition plans.


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President Obama Releases Executive Order on Improper Payments

On November 23rd, President Obama signed an executive order on improper payments. This order is designed to reduce improper payments in state human service agencies, increase transparency, hold these agencies accountable, and increase greater incentives for maintaining compliance. In early November, the Office of Management and Budget issued a statement discussing this initiative and released improper payment rates in various federal programs. For Title IV-E foster care programs, the improper payment rate is 4.7 percent. A new website will be established to post these rates, methods of computation, and targets for reduction.

According to the executive order, a workgroup consisting of federal, state, and local government officials must be established to make recommendations to OMB on the measurement of states' access to federal funding. This workgroup must be established within 90 days and recommendations are due within 180 days of this order. Additionally, two similar workgroups must be established; one to make recommendations on the effectiveness of single audits on improper payments and the other to make recommendations on administrative action regarding improper payments. These workgroups must be established within 30 days of this order. OMB will also develop policy recommendations, including legislation, designed to reduce improper payments. For more information, please contact Larry Goolsby at larry.goolsby@aphsa.org or 202-682-0100 ext. 239.

The executive order can be found on the White House's website at here.


NAPCWA Sends Support Letter on the Child Welfare Workforce Improvement Act

On October 12, the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators submitted a letter to Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) on the Child Welfare Workforce Improvement Act of 2009. Sen. Lincoln shared the draft legislation with NAPCWA staff and child welfare advocates prior to the bill being reintroduced in the 111th Congress. Former Senator Hillary R. Clinton (D-NY) previously introduced the bill as S. 2944 in the 110th Congress, which is comparable to Sen. Lincoln's draft legislation.

Sen. Lincoln's draft bill amends Title IV-E and allows states to claim Title IV-E training dollars whether a worker provides services to Title IV-E foster care, guardianship or adoption assistance children. The workforce legislation allows states to apply for workforce demonstration grants, which must be implemented in two phases and include a planning and assessment component. States may also use private resources as their match regardless of whether these funds are under a state's administrative control. Additionally, the measure provides incentives, as opposed to penalties, for workforce improvement by increasing a state's FMAP rate by 3 percent for administrative costs. The bill also establishes a National Child Welfare Workforce Institute to provide technical assistance to states receiving grant awards and authorizes the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a National Child Welfare Staff Study to submit to HHS.

Consequently, NAPCWA submitted a support letter to Sen. Lincoln on the bill. The letter highlights key components of NAPCWA's Positioning Public Child Welfare Initiative: Strengthening Families in the 21st Century on effective workforce practices and encourages Congress to consider provisions that allow states to utilize workforce grants without providing a match due to challenging economic times.

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