Federal Updates
- The Department of Justice terminated ~365 grants totaling over $800 million dollars. Several of these grants impact child welfare and related areas. A 30-day appeal period is pending.
- The Welch Amendment (S.Amdt. 1661) was added to H.Con.Res.14 and states, “to create a point of order against legislation that defunds essential services for children, families, and seniors, including programs that feed hungry seniors like Meals on Wheels, Head Start and other child care assistance that allows parents to work and pay their bills, and programs that keep children safe from abuse and neglect, to give massive tax cuts to billionaires.” The Amendment was rejected by voice vote.
- Following a decision from the Eastern District of Texas District Court, the Designated Placement Rule for LGBTQIA+ youth is no longer in effect.
- The Senate passed a resolution to designate April 2025 as “National Child Abuse Prevention Month.”
NACC Joins Sign-On Letters and Endorsements
- Protect Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): NACC joined a sign-on letter to members of Congress urging them to reject damaging cuts and structural changes to Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and SSBG. Combined these four programs represent nearly one-third of all investments in children.
- Endorsing the Equality Act: NACC joined over 600 organizations in endorsing the Equality Act. If passed, the bill would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- NACC endorsed the American Indian and Alaska Native Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
- Endorsement of Senate Resolution on HHS Public Comments: NACC joined several organizations in endorsing Senators Wyden, Markey, and King’s resolution urging the Senate to call on HHS to uphold current practices that involve the public in rulemaking and to withdraw a proposal that would limit opportunities for public notice and comment.
- Request to strike SSBG elimination from budget reconciliation bill: NACC joined over 360 organizations to urge members of the Ways and Means Committee to protect and maintain full funding for SSBG.
Amicus
- K.W. v The City of New York et. al.: NACC and partners filed an amicus brief in New York about the harms of removal and children’s related constitutional rights
- The Alaska Supreme Court has issued a decision in the case of OCS v. Z.C, in which NACC joined partners to file an amicus brief in 2022.
Counsel for Kids Legislative Updates:
Counsel for Kids (C4K) works throughout state legislative sessions to preserve and expand the right to counsel for youth.
The Missouri House and Senate passed House Bill 737 (Companion to Senate Bill 43). The bill is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Beginning January 1, 2028 the bill will require the appointment of legal counsel for children 14 and older who are subject to child protection court proceedings. An appointed guardian ad litem (GAL) would transition to serve as a client-directed attorney at the child’s 14th birthday, unless a judge determines the child to have diminished capacity. The bill would also establish a “Coordinating Board” within the state supreme court responsible for establishing training requirements and standards of practice for GALs, children’s attorneys, and parent attorneys.
The Iowa Senate Health and Human Services Subcommittee held a public hearing on House File 953 (renumbered from House File 373) establishing the right to client-directed counsel for all youth on April 3. NACC Policy Counsel Natalece Washington testified in support of the bill. The bill was held by the committee for future consideration in 2026, the 2nd year of the biennial session.
The Montana legislature established the right to counsel with Senate Bill 148 (2023). Proposed legislation (House Bill 913) would have removed the unqualified guarantee of counsel for youth, allowing the state to forego appointment of counsel when a child is appointed a CASA. NACC’s C4K team joined stakeholders to oppose this rollback and submitted written comments for the Judiciary Committee. The offending language was successfully removed from the bill before the bill was passed by the House on April 4.
Last session the New Hampshire legislature passed Senate Bill 463-FN guaranteeing the right to counsel for youth in residential institutional care. This session an effort was made to delay the phased-in implementation of this limited right to counsel for 2 years. Advocates successfully challenged the proposed delay and secured a lesser delay of 6 months.