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September 13, 2013

NACHSA e-Alert

 

Greetings NACHSA Members!

Federal Update:Congress has returned from its summer recess and faces a long legislative list, including finding a way to extend federal funding past September 30, facing a breach of the debt limit at some point in mid-October, and advancing a number of major policy measures, including the farm bill and immigration reform. Reauthorizations of the adoption assistance program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are also pending.

Next week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as Wednesday on a nutrition-only section of the farm bill. The proposal would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $40 billion over ten years. The cut is twice the spending reduction previously contemplated by the House and ten times greater than what the Senate adopted earlier this year. No Democrat is expected to vote for the measure and 17 Republicans would have to oppose the bill in order for it to be defeated. A one page summary and a backgrounder from the House Majority Leader is available. The Democratic Senate is all but certain to reject the cuts. A new issue brief from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that 4 to 6 million low-income individuals would lose benefits under the House bill.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said a floor vote on the nutrition bill, regardless of the outcome, should signal House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to name House conferees to to a conference committee on the farm bill. The Senate named its conferees before the summer recess. It remains unclear how the two houses will reconcile some very divergent approaches within the two measures.

Meanwhile, House Republican leaders are struggling with finding enough votes to extend federal funding until mid-December. A core group of conservatives insist that such a bill must contain provisions to delay or defund Obamacare. The federal funding extension bill would be the vehicle to also extend expiring authorizations, such as TANF.
In This Issue
Health Reform Resources
Human Services Resources
Human Services Jobs
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Health Reform Resources
Medicaid Pays for Nearly Half of U.S Births:
study released this week by George Washington University and the March of Dimes estimated that in 2010 about 45% of U.S. births were paid by Medicaid. The study contains state-by-state charts and a U.S. map displaying figures for each state. Previous research estimated that about 40% of the nearly 4 million annual births were paid by Medicaid.

 

NACo to Conduct ACA Enrollment Webinar: On September 19 at 2 pm ET, NACo is holding a webinar entitled What Your County Needs to Know about Health Insurance Enrollment.   Learn from key health leaders about who is eligible to enroll for the state and federal health insurance marketplaces and about the enrollment process. Counties will also learn what resources are available to assist their residents and employees, if applicable, and the role they can play in enrollment efforts. Register here.  

 

Ensuring Health Care Access for Individuals in Jail: In states pursuing ACA Medicaid expansion, new health care coverage options can significantly increase medical and behavioral health access for incarcerated individuals. Ensuring access to coverage and treatment offers the potential to avoid unnecessary and costly adverse health care outcomes as well as to reduce recidivism. The webinar will address opportunities for Medicaid stakeholders to partner with correctional systems to facilitate enrollment in coverage and will also cover key implementation considerations.  It will be held this Monday, September 16 from 1:30-3:00 pm ET. Register here.

 

Interactive Map on State Medicaid Expansions: From the Urban Institute, this map and accompanying article provides up-to-date information on state ACA Medicaid expansion. Another similar map may be found here.  

  

Status of Health Exchanges: This map provides a snapshot of states' decisions on the type of health insurance marketplace they intend to offer.

Human Services Resources
Federal Immigration Response to Children with Detained Parents:
Late last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a directive on how ICE agents should respond to the large and growing number of U.S. citizen children with immigrant parents or guardians who have been detained or deported. The Parental Interest Directive is meant to ensure that detained and removed parents and guardians can maintain a relationship with their children and make decisions in their best interest. First Focus has issued a helpful two-page summary of the Directive.
 

In 2011, the Applied Research Center issued a report Shattered Families that estimated at least 5,100 children currently living in foster care have parents who have been either detained or deported.

 

TANF Subsidized Jobs Work: This blog from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that there's new evidence from the Economic Mobility Corporation (EMC) that the Recovery Act's investment in the TANF subsidized jobs program did indeed help disadvantaged individuals during hard economic times to boost their incomes and improve their chances of finding unsubsidized jobs. It notes that 39 states used $1.3 billion from TANF to place more than 260,000 low-income adults and youth in temporary jobs in the private and public sectors during the recession. 

 

Poverty Strains Cognitive Abilities, Opening Door For Bad Decision-Making: This Washington Post story and the LA Times reports that a new study finds that poverty consumes so much mental energy that people struggling to make ends meet often have little brainpower left for anything else, leaving them more susceptible to bad decisions that can perpetuate their situation. "Past research has often blamed [poverty] on the personal failings of the poor. They don't work hard enough; they're not focused enough," said Jiaying Zhao, a University of British Columbia professor and one of the authors of the study, which was published in the journal Science. "What we're arguing is it's not about the individual. It's about the situation." (Subscription required for full access to the report). 

 

Untreated Effects of Child Abuse & Neglect Can Be Lifelong: This Washington Post story reports that, in the first major study of child abuse and neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday that the damaging consequences of abuse can not only reshape a child's brain but also last a lifetime. USA Today also covered the study. The report, New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research may be downloaded for free or purchased. 

 

Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect: From HHS, this ten page Fact Sheet summarizes the long-term physical, psychological, behavioral, and societal consequences of child abuse and neglect. Resources are available at the end of the brief.

 

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: The statistics can feel overwhelming. In FY 2011, there were 676,569 children reported abused and/or neglected, according to HHS. However, child abuse and neglect are preventable. This HHS Fact Sheet provides information on how communities and individual citizens can strengthen families, protect children, and prevent child abuse and neglect.

 
Family-Centered Innovations Improve Child Support Outcomes: Spending positive time with both parents promotes child well-being and is associated with better child support outcomes. Unmarried parents do not have systematic access to assistance in establishing parenting time orders, so state and local child support programs have sought to address this service gap. This fact sheet features states and counties that coordinate the establishment of child support orders and parenting time agreements. Family violence safeguards are always a critical component when addressing parenting time.
Human Services Jobs
Napa County, Calif. is accepting applications for Director of Health and Human Services. Apply by October 4. 
 

The County of San Bernardino is hiring for Deputy Director, Child Support.

 

Placer County, Calif. is accepting applications for a Director of Health and Human Services. Apply by September 16.

 

The County of Alameda Social Services Agency invites you to apply for the position of 

Financial Services Director, SSA. Apply by September 15.

 

San Diego County, Calif. is accepting applications for an Assistant Deputy Director, Health & Human Services Agency.

Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators