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| Greetings NACHSA Members: |
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Washington is preparing for change in 2009. Rumors and speculation are swirling around President-elect Obama's possible appointments and what may be his initial executive orders and legislative priorities. On the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Democrats gained at least six seats in the Senate, giving them 57 members, with outcomes still to be determined in three races. At least 20 House districts turned Democratic with four races to close to call, giving them at least 255 seats - the largest Democratic caucus in 14 years.
While there will be 'change', it will unfold during a recession of unknown depth and duration, huge federal budget deficits, and the continued engagement in two wars. House Democratic leadership will also need to balance pent up demands of the liberal wing of the party with the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs who comprise at least 20 percent of the caucus.
This e-Alert provides you with the latest federal developments on a possible economic stimulus package and recent human services resources that have crossed my screen recently.
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| Federal Legislation |
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As of this morning (November 17), it is unlikely that Congress will consider a domestic stimulus package during its lame duck session this week. The House Democratic leadership has urged the Senate to adopt and President Bush to sign the package it passed in late September. The Senate Republican leadership and the Bush Administration have consistently opposed the House measure (H.R. 7110).
At this point, it is likely that a stimulus bill will be re-introduced in early January and signed by President Obama as one of the first bills to reach his desk. The current House legislation contains a temporary boost in the federal share of Medicaid, a five percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) benefits to otherwise eligible populations and an extension of unemployment benefits. A similar boost to Medicaid in 2003 brought an additional $10 billion in federal support to states and counties over 15 months. Investments in infrastructure and youth employment are also part of the House bill, but it does not contain the Senate bill's stop-gap funding to temporarily restore the child support performance incentive payment cuts.
Before the 110th Congress adjourns, the Senate may adopt a House-passed extension of unemployment insurance providing seven additional weeks of benefits for those whose unemployment insurance has run out and 13 additional weeks for jobless workers in states with an unemployment rate higher than six percent. The president is expected to sign that bill.
A $25 billion financial assistance package for the auto industry has met with stiff opposition from many Republicans, especially those whose states do not have a large stake in the industry. It is very unclear whether the package will be enacted this week.
Both House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) have reiterated that a domestic stimulus package in 2009 will be the first in a possible series of measures responding to the economy. Also due for early consideration in 2009 is the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the moratoria on six Medicaid regulations. Both of those laws expire on March 31, 2009.
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| President-elect Obama Transition Website |
The Office of President-elect Obama has created a website containing the latest transition news. It may be accessed by going to: http://change.gov/
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| Human Services Resources |
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State-by-State Economic Distress Data: The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has prepared a one page table comparing states' measures of state fiscal distress including state-by-state data on housing foreclosure rates for September 2008 and recent changes in unemployment (September 2007- September 2008) and food stamp participation (August 2007-2008). The Commission has also tabulated information from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on the projected state budget shortfalls for state fiscal year 2009.
Increases in Numbers of SNAP/Food Stamps Recipients: The Food Research and Action Center has published state-by-state data showing recent increases over one month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients as well as comparable data for the past one and five years. Click here for the three charts.
County Prisoner Reentry Program Models: NACo recently released a publication focusing on effective county practices in jail-to-community transition planning for offenders with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. Reentry for Safer Communities provides background on this population, using six model county programs as examples.
Mapping Community Data on Children of Prisoners: Strategies and Insight: Children of incarcerated parents are often an invisible population, but analyzing and mapping local-level data on these children and their parents can help policymakers better understand their experiences and needs. This brief discusses the mapping of community data on these families, drawing on the experiences and insights of partners in the Urban Institute's Reentry Mapping Network (RMN). The brief discusses the value of analyzing and mapping data on children of incarcerated parents, outlines potential data sources, and explores the process of working with and mapping data on this population. Additional references and links are on the last page of this eight page brief.
Characteristics of Model Teen Fatherhood Programs: Published by HHS's National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, this eight page issue brief entitled Promising Teen Fatherhood Programs identifies ten characteristics of model and promising teen fatherhood programs.
Preparing Emancipated Youth for Positive Contact with Birth Families: Casey Family Programs research demonstrated that 87.9 percent of surveyed youth elected to contact their birth families after leaving foster care. Included in the Fall 2008 issue of Focus, the article discusses preparing youth for contact with birth families. It also discusses benefits that may come from birth family contact. These include engagement with identity, history, and culture. Go to page 19 of the Foster Family-based Treatment Association newsletter to read "Contact with Birth Families After Emancipation: Results from Two Alumni Studies and Implications for Practice."
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| NACHSA News |
| NACHSA Networker: Do you have an exemplary program or unique challenge you are facing? Please send us your articles for the upcoming Winter 2009 edition of the Networker as soon as possible! We are very interested in hearing about innovations for delivering collaborative, meaningful services to your community, strategies for dealing with budget crises, and any other information that may be informative for human services agencies. We welcome articles of 500 to 1,000 words. Please e-mail Jo Weber at jweber@schsd.org for further information.
NACHSA Jobs: NACHSA has recently posted new human services job announcements, including the Assistant Client Services Program Director in Placer County, CA; the Deputy Director for Children and Family Services in Los Angeles County, CA and Eagle County, CO's positions of Director of Children & Family Servicesand Child Welfare Supervisor. The County Welfare Directors Association of California has also posted an opening for its Senior Fiscal and Policy Analyst.
Click here for the entire list of postings.
Upcoming Events: NACHSA will soon be announcing the application and nomination process for NACHSA's annual awards for exemplary county human services programs; directors; and elected county officials with a commitment to county human services delivery. Also watch for future e-Alerts surveying the membership on what additional services you would want NACHSA to consider providing the membership. Those items and updates on the National Association of Counties' 2009 Legislative Conference, March 7-11 in Washington, DC will be forthcoming over the next month.
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Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
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