Volume 8, Number 2
In this Issue:

--TAKE ACTION - Senators Introduce Bill to Expand Home Visitation Services
--President Signs into Law Significant Investments in Children
--Administration and Congress to Turn Attention to FY 2010 Federal Budget
-- House Approves Bill to Protect Teens in Residential Programs
--Prevent Child Abuse America’s 2009 Public Policy Agenda

Senators Introduce Bill to Expand Home Visitation Services
TAKE ACTION

Senators Bond (R-MO), Murray (D-WA) and Clinton (D-NY, prior to leaving the Senate) recently reintroduced the Education Begins at Home Act (EBAH). EBAH would establish the first federal funding stream dedicated to early childhood home visitation services like Healthy Families America (HFA).

Benefits of Home Visitation:

• Home visitation delivers parent education and family support services directly to parents with young children, providing guidance on how parents can enhance their children’s development from birth through kindergarten entry. 
• Home visitation is an effective, research-based and cost-efficient way to bring families and resources together and to ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow up healthy and ready to learn.  
• Quality early childhood home visitation programs lead to proven, positive outcomes for children and families, including improved school readiness, improved child health and development, improved parenting practices, and reductions in child maltreatment.

EBAH would provide $500 million over three years to help states establish or expand quality home visitation programs. Of the $500 million authorized in EBAH, $400 million would be provided to states on a formula basis to expand and enhance home visiting programs, while the remaining $100 million would be divided between two competitive grants to reach military families and families with English Language Learners.

TAKE ACTION NOW!! Ask your Senators to cosponsor EBAH.

Learn More About EBAH (S. 244)

President Signs into Law Significant Investments in Children

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (HR 1) stimulus bill into law on Tuesday, February 17 in Denver, Colorado.  Hopes of bipartisan support diminished as the bill passed in the House on January 28 by a vote of 246-183, with no Republican support.  The bill was passed by the Senate on February 13 by a close vote of 60-38 after gaining the support of three Republicans -- Senators Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME), and Specter (R-PA) -- to provide the 60 votes needed to protect the vote from a filibuster.  

The final bill totals $787.2 billion, with $317.2 billion in spending provisions.  The stimulus package includes important provisions for programs that will have positive impacts on children and families, such as increased academic achievement, accessible child care services, improved early childhood development, and increased support for basic needs and medical services.  While no money was explicitly allocated for child abuse prevention, some programs that may fund child abuse prevention, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), received significant increases.

Highlights:

• $5 billion over two years to establish a TANF Emergency Contingency Fund and $319 million to extend TANF Supplemental Grants through FY 2010. Many states fund child abuse prevention services, including home visiting with TANF dollars. 
• $1 billion increase to Head Start and a $1.1 billion increase to Early Head Start. Early Head Start provides center-based, home-based and combination services to: 1) promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women; 2) enhance the development of very young children; and 3) promote healthy family functioning.  
• $500 million increase to IDEA Part C, which provides expanded early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities. Many states report using IDEA Part C money for respite care, home visiting and other services that intersect with child abuse prevention.
• $87 billion increase to Medicaid through increasing the federal matching rate (FMAP) for Medicaid by 6.2 percent. States that experience a significant rise in unemployment will be eligible for an additional FMAP increase. 
• $53.6 billion for a new State Fiscal Stabilization Fund intended to prevent tax increases and cutbacks in critical education and other services. 
• Estimated $843.6 million  increase to Title IV-E (foster care and adoption assistance) through a 6.2 percent increase to the federal matching rate (FMAP) for title IV-E foster care and adoption assistance. 
• $2 billion increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGG) to expand child care services. 
• $1 billion increase to Child Support through restoring funding cut in the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act that reduced child support funding by 20%.
• $1 billion increase to the Community Services Block Grant to support efforts that reduce poverty, revitalize low-income communities, and lead to self-sufficiency among low-income families and individuals.
• $20 billion increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamps) to increase maximum food stamp benefits by 13.6%.
• $500 million increase to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). 
• $50 million to the Compassion Capital Fund for nonprofit capacity building to provide services to individuals and communities impacted by the economic downturn.
• $89 million increase to AmeriCorps and $65 million increase to the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program.

Administration and Congress to Turn Attention to FY 2010 Federal Budget

On Thursday, February 26, President Obama will release an outline of his budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2010. The outline will lay out broad tax and spending priorities without drilling into specific program areas. A more complete plan will be released in late March or early April. While the President’s budget request is typically released the first Tuesday in February, the release is generally pushed back in the first year of a new Administration.

In the meantime, Congress is working to finish up the FY 2009 budget process. Last year, Congress was unable to pass a number of the annual spending bills, including Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS-Ed). Instead, Congress passed a long-term continuing resolution keeping the majority of federal funding at FY 2008 levels through March 6, 2009.

House and Senate Democrats have reached consensus on an omnibus bill that includes all of the outstanding spending bills for FY 2009. The bill (H.R. 1105) totals $410 billion, including $152 billion for Labor-HHS-Ed, which provides the majority of federal discretionary funding for prevention. The House is planning to take up the omnibus bill this week, where it is expected to pass. The road to passage in the Senate could be much rockier, as some Republicans have objected to the overall funding level.

House Approves Bill to Protect Teens in Residential Programs

On February 23, the House passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 911) by a vote of 295 to 102. The bill is intended to prevent child abuse and neglect through the establishment of national safety and disclosure standards of residential treatment programs serving children and adolescents, including wilderness camps, therapeutic boarding schools, and “boot camps.”  It does not include hospitals or individual foster families.  States would be given flexibility in establishing similar standards of safety and protection and would share accountability for investigating reports of abuse or neglect in these programs. As of now, there is no companion bill in the Senate.

Prevent Child Abuse America’s 2009 Public Policy Agenda

Prevent Child Abuse America advocates for policies that promote healthy child development by preventing child abuse and neglect from occurring in the first place. In 2009, we urge the Administration and Congress to: 

1. Develop a National Strategy for Prevention
2. Enact Federal Home Visiting Legislation
3. Increase Federal Funding for Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services
4. Reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
5. Increase Federal Investments in the Full Continuum of Child Welfare Services
6. Enact Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Legislation

Learn more about Prevent Child Abuse America’s public policy priorities.

Privacy Policy | Update  Preferences| Unsubscribe