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| Greetings NACHSA Members! |
Federal Update: Last week, the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference wrapped up. NACHSA members held a successful meeting, sharing information on challenges in their home counties and receiving the latest updates on federal developments. The NACHSA board ratified the following slate of officers for this year: President: Rick Bengtsson (El Paso County, CO); Vice President: Roxane Somerlot (Marion County, OH); Secretary: Cathy Senderling-McDonald (County Welfare Directors Association of California); Treasurer: Matt Kurtz (Knox County, OH) and NACo Board Representative: Glenn Osborne (Wilson County, NC). Vice President Joe Biden was among the featured speakers at the conference.
On Capitol Hill, congressional hearings continue on President Obama's FY 2016 budget proposals, with additional hearings and markups of a budget resolution expected in both the House and Senate Budget Committees later this month. The budget resolution serves as a blueprint for the House and Senate to refer to as the committees mark up policy and spending bills.
NACHSA Dues are Due: If you haven't done so already, please pay your dues today. NACHSA invoices members through these e-Alerts. Please contact Tom Joseph at tj@wafed.com if you have questions.
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| Human Services Resources |
WIOA Webinar: Tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) will host a webinar entitled WIOA: Expanding Opportunities for Low-Income and Out-of-School Youth. WIOA offers new opportunities to focus on the most vulnerable workers - low-income adults and youth who have limited skills, lack work experience, and face other barriers to economic success. At least 75 percent of youth funds available to local areas be spent on workforce investment services for out-of-school youth ages 16 to 24. Participants will hear from national, state, and local experts about strategies to help shape their state plans and make important connections to local workforce boards, as well as examples of effective education and employment interventions for this population. Register here.
Reducing Overreliance on Psychotropics Among Foster Youth: A recent congressional briefing provided staff and interested stakeholders an opportunity to learn about and discuss policy and practice trends related to addressing the behavioral health needs of children in foster care. The briefing highlighted effective alternatives, including evidence-based therapies. Click here to access the presentations or watch the briefing.
Programs for Transitioning Foster Youth: Youth aging out of foster care move through the transition to adulthood with different personal assets and characteristics, as well as different resources and supports. Under contract with HHS, the Urban Institute and Chapin Hall produced a number of briefs on the needs of these youth and the types of programs that can help them. Briefs highlight education, financial literacy and asset building, and employment programs for youth transitioning out of foster care.
Parenting a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma: From HHS, this factsheet discusses the nature of trauma, especially abuse or neglect, the effects of trauma on children and youth, and ways to help a child who has experienced trauma.
Adoption and Foster Care Fact Sheets: The North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) produced a series of state-by-state fact sheets with information about the number of children awaiting adoption, the length of time children spend in care, the race of waiting and adopted children, types of exits from foster care, Title IV-E payments, and more.
HHS Releases Guidance on Children Whose Parents Are in Immigration Custody: HHS has released an Information Memorandum (IM) emphasizing the importance of child welfare agencies assessing and providing appropriate services to families with a child in foster care or involved with a child welfare agency, whose parent(s) and legal guardians may be at risk of, or are, being detained or deported.
SNAP Interactive Tool: Although SNAP expenditures fluctuate based on factors such as increased unemployment and changes in program eligibility requirements, over 47 million Americans still received benefits as of 2012. To illustrate these and other economic trends, Mathematica created a new interactive tool that presents SNAP enrollment data in three modules including: (1) program history, (2) program eligibility, and (3) program participation and related research.
The Widening Wealth Gap: Why hasn't wealth inequality improved over the past 50 years? And why, in particular, has the racial wealth gap not closed? From the Urban Institute, these nine charts illustrate how income inequality, earnings gaps, homeownership rates, retirement savings, student loan debt, and lopsided asset-building subsidies have contributed to these growing wealth disparities. |
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Tom Joseph
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
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