NACC Joins Sign-On Letters
- A sign-on letter was sent to Congressional Leadership to Request $150 Million for Full-Service Community Schools in FY 25.
- Save Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): A letter was sent to the Senate urging them to protect and maintain full funding for the SSBG as they consider significant changes to health and human service programs.
- Reject Medicaid & CHIP Cuts: The letter was sent to both the House and Senate. It urges Congress to reject cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) due to the detrimental impact cuts would have on children’s health and well-being.
- Opposing Cuts to Housing and Urban Development (HUD): This letter was sent to Congressional Leadership to show organizational opposition to the efforts to terminate half of all employees at HUD.
- Advocacy to Oppose Action to Cut Programs Serving Youth Experiencing Homelessness: A letter was sent to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies urging them to provide strong financial support for programs serving youth experiencing homelessness as they consider appropriations for fiscal year 2026.
- Urge Congress to Protect Families’ Access to Public Benefits: Sent to Congress, this letter strongly opposes any efforts to restrict immigrants’ access to federal assistance programs.
- Foster Care Tax Credit Act: This bill, if it passes, would allow short-term foster families to access existing federal tax benefits available to families offering long-term foster care, such as the child tax credit.
Amicus
In the matter of Lukas B. & Joe B. v. NYC Administration for Children’s Services: NACC joined a coalition of amici urging the New York Court of Appeals to review and reverse a lower court ruling finding that a prospective father had neglected his unborn child solely because he did not effectively prevent his pregnant partner’s drug abuse.
Counsel for Kids Legislative Updates
Two Counsel for Kids bills are progressing through the legislative process. We applaud the policymakers that continue to support amplifying youth voice in child protection court.
California Assembly Bill 373 would remove statutory language that prevents children’s counsel from representing nonminor dependent youth’s expressed wishes when those wishes conflict with the safety or protection of the youth—thereby changing the model of representation to a client-directed model of representation. The Committee on Human Services voted to pass the bill on March 25.
Iowa’s House File 373 would require the appointment of counsel for youth age 10 and older. Children younger than 10 would be appointed counsel and a GAL. On March 26 the bill was passed by the House with a vote of 94-2.