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| Greetings NACHSA Members! |
Federal Update: Congress returns November 12 for a lame duck session.
HHS Proposes to Extend Enhanced IT Funding: Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to the American Public Human Services Association and the National Association of Medicaid Directors announcing its intention to provide a three-year extension of the A87 cost allocation waiver authority to enable states to complete their work on eligibility and enrollment systems integration through December 2018. The 90 percent federal funding was due to expire in December 2015. CMS also signaled its plans to issue new regulations to codify permanently the 90/10 federal matching funds for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems. Read the CMS letter here. Read a short analysis of the CMS announcement from the Center for Children and Families here.
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| Human Services Resources |
TANF Cash Benefits Fall Again: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance benefits for the nation's poorest families with children fell again in purchasing power in 2014. They are now at least 20 percent below their 1996 levels in 38 states. This report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that TANF benefits leave family incomes below half of the poverty line in every state. The report ranks each state's program.
U.S. Child Poverty Ranks Among the Worst in the Developed World: This Washington Post blog notes that the U.S. ranks near the bottom of the pack of wealthy nations on a measure of child poverty, according to a new report from UNICEF. Nearly one-third of U.S. children live in households with an income below 60 percent of the national median income in 2008 - about $31,000 annually.
Federal Funding and State Demographics: The National Priorities Project has released State Smart, a comprehensive source for tracking how federal funds affect all fifty states. Through this interactive publication, you can follow money from the federal level to your state through spending on government personnel, contracts, aid to individuals (such as SNAP and Medicaid), as well as find out how much individuals and businesses in your state pay in federal taxes.
Central American Immigration Slows: This story in the Arizona Republic notes that border crossings of children from Central America have slowed dramatically in the past few months.
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| Human Services Jobs | |
Snohomish County, Washington, invites applications for the position of Human Services Director. Please apply by November 30.
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Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
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