The public policy team is pleased to host the session, Social Current’s Federal Policy Agenda: Advocacy Workshop and Opportunities for Impact, Sept. 12 in Baltimore, leading up to SPARK 2022, Sept. 13-14. Blair Kiser, senior director of government affairs, and Derry Kiernan, field mobilization and policy manager, will highlight the critical role of the social sector in federal policy development and engage participants with advocacy skills workshops. The session will feature background on the mechanics of the federal government, in-depth exploration of critical issues, and training on messaging and advocacy strategy.

This interactive pre-conference session will include an overview of Social Current’s first-ever federal public policy agenda, a crash course in U.S. public policy, and a sneak peek at the 2022 midterm election and 2024 general election. The session will conclude with a policy briefing covering the recent opioid settlement funds, what programs and services they can support, and how to advocate for them. This briefing will be followed by a congressional meeting simulation, where participants will prepare for a meeting with members of their congressional delegation to advocate on issues vital to the continued health and growth of the social sector.

We are excited to host this session and hope to see you there! There is still time to register for SPARK 2022 and this free pre-conference session.

Administration Releases Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

On Aug. 24, President Joe Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan, eliminating up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers who earned less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021 ($250,000 for married couples). Individuals who received Pell Grants, which help low-income students afford college, will have $20,000 forgiven, while people with standard federal loans will have $10,000. All “Direct Loans,” the most common type of federal loan, issued before June 30, 2022, are eligible, including those taken out by parents and graduate students. It is estimated that this plan will eliminate student debt for 20 million people out of 43 million with student loans. The Department of Education says that monthly payments will decrease by $250 for borrowers with a remaining balance on a 10-year payment plan. The administration’s plan also included a proposal to reduce the cap on monthly payments for undergraduate loans from 5% to 10% and to eliminate balances after 10 years of payments, rather than 20. The administration also announced that loan payments paused during the pandemic will resume in January 2023. A study by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which did not include the additional forgiveness for Pell Grant recipients, projects that the plan will cost $230 billion.

Senate Committee on Aging Holds Hearing on ABLE Act

On Aug. 17, Bob Casey (D-Penn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging hosted a hearing called “Saving with ABLE: Financial Security for Pennsylvanians with Disabilities.” The Stephen Beck Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2014 created so-called ABLE accounts, through which people with disabilities can save money without losing access to benefits, including Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Before the passage of the ABLE Act, individuals with more than $2,000 in assets in savings or retirement funds risked losing these benefits. With an ABLE account, individuals can save up to $15,000 per year with a total cap of $100,000 and still retain access to these programs.

During the hearing, Sen. Casey promoted the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, raising the age diagnosis limit from 26 to 46 and giving 6.2 million additional individuals with disabilities access to ABLE accounts. Currently, only individuals who are diagnosed with a disability before the age of 26 are eligible. One witness said that the ABLE Act had allowed her to save up to buy a new house and stop fearing acquiring wealth. Another witness, a former professional dancer, offered her story as a victim of a spinal cord injury at 41 to demonstrate that people who develop disabilities at all ages need access to ABLE accounts. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act has earned bipartisan support from 12 members of the Senate.

By: Dr. Daniel P. Hall Riggins and Verleaner Lane

Children in the U.S. are healthier and safer than ever before, and medical advances in treating childhood diseases have made enormous strides over the last few decades. Despite this progress, national public health efforts to prevent Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) have hit a standstill, prompting the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to update its guidance on safe sleep practices.

When the Back to Sleep Campaign was first launched by AAP in the 1990s, our nation saw unprecedented decreases in infant death based on initial recommendations that babies are safer if placed on their backs to sleep. That progress stalled, however, by the early 2000s, with infant mortality rates remaining stagnant at around 85-100 deaths per 100,000 births each year. Part of this was because educational campaigns were not effective across all segments of the population. Today, dramatic racial disparities persist with American Indian/Alaska Native and Non-Hispanic Black infants suffering rates more than twice those of Non-Hispanic White infants. The reasons for these disparities, including the impact of structural racism and poverty, have largely been left out of the conversation.

Cook County SUID trends contrast from national ones in important ways. From 2015 to 2019, the county experienced great strides in reducing infant mortality, decreasing the overall yearly incidence from 291 to 203 deaths per 100,000 births. Despite those positive trends, the county’s rate is still twice the national rate. Although most of the improvement in Cook County is due to a reduction in SUID among black infants, the residual disparities remain starker than those seen nationally. In 2019, the Cook County incidence of SUID in Non-Hispanic Black people was over 10 times higher compared to Non-Hispanic White infants.

With a focus on reducing disparities, including those that are racially-based, the AAP updated its safe sleep guidance in a new policy statement released on June 21, 2022. It focuses on contextualizing safe sleep behavior within broader societal and cultural factors. In addition to reiterating the “ABCs” that babies should sleep Alone on their Back in a Crib, the AAP makes the following updates:

Pediatricians have long faced limitations when working with families to implement safe sleep practices. Placing the burden on parents without a larger understanding of the health care disparities and limitations in access to quality care also affects how families address safe sleep. That is why community-based collaborations are so important to conveying guidance within cultural contexts.

That is the goal of Cook County Health’s participation in the Child Safety Forward initiative, one of five sites that was selected for a Department of Justice-funded grant to reduce child abuse and neglect fatalities and injuries through a collaborative, community-based approach. As part of the initiative, Cook County Health has convened a multi-disciplinary group of stakeholders and has deployed an innovative simulation training at the Child Protection Training Academy of the University of Illinois Springfield to help identify risk factors for communities that can lead to unsafe sleep practices.

The collaboration of several organizations, including Project CHILD, Be Strong Families and EverThrive Illinois has led to the development of a comprehensive education curriculum that draws on these new recommendations from the AAP. The curriculum and online training, Safe Sleep, Safety 101, will be available to communities across Illinois in the Fall of 2022.

Using a public health approach based on the AAP’s guidelines, we are working with a collaborative body of stakeholders to build a body of knowledge and share timely information. Educating specifically through an equity and diversity lens will more effectively achieve our goal of helping all families implement safe sleep practices to reduce child fatalities.

Daniel P. Riggins, MD is a pediatrician with Cook County Health. Verleaner Lane is the project director for Project CHILD of Cook County Health, one of five Child Safety Forward sites.

A version of this piece appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times as a letter to the editor on August 22, 2022.

Disclaimer: This product was supported by cooperative agreement number 2019-V3-GX-K005 Reducing Child Fatalities and Recurring Injuries Caused by Crime Victimization, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. This historic piece of legislation will impact health care costs, corporate tax rates, clean energy incentives, and IRS funding. The law passed through the Senate along party lines, 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote, and then through the House of Representatives, 220-207. Here is a detailed breakdown of the health care provisions that will interest our network the most.

Prescription Drugs Under Medicare Part B and D

Affordable Care Act Subsidies

Joint Letter from Schomburg and Gray on Child Support Payments

Aysha Schomburg, associate commissioner of the Children’s Bureau (CB), and Tanguler Gray, commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OSCE), released a joint letter discouraging child welfare agencies from referring parents to child support agencies when their child enters foster care. In many cases, parents must pay child support to cover the cost of foster care. However, Schomburg and Gray believe that, in most cases, these parents are already struggling economically and do not need additional financial hurdles to overcome as they try to reunite with their children.

Moreover, the letter cites a study that shows that higher child support payments are associated with increased time before reunification—harming both parents and children. It also cites two additional studies that find that government money spent collecting child support payments far outweighs payments themselves. Given these realities, Schomburg and Gray encourage IV-E agencies to stop automatically referring cases to child support offices. They say that the CB and the OSCE are willing to help agencies implement this change, including offering IV-E administrative funds to help implement necessary changes to data systems.

New Housing Grant Awards for Youth Aging out of Foster Care

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 14 public housing agencies in 12 states will receive grants to provide housing assistance to youth aging out of foster care. In total, $621,000 is allocated to cover 60 Housing Choice Vouchers for youth in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. The grant program, called the Foster Youth to Independence Program, serves foster youth who are 18-24 years old and have left or are about to leave foster care. It also serves all foster youth 16 years old or older who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The vouchers last for 36 months.

Senators Write Letter Supporting Student Debt Relief for Public Service Workers and Others

Twenty-two Senate Democrats, including Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, wrote a letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, expressing support for the Department of Education’s proposed rules concerning student debt relief. These rules would help borrowers whose schools closed or defrauded them and borrowers who are disabled and/or work in public service organizations. Regarding the last group, the letter lauds the multiple ways the department proposes to categorize more types of monthly payments as eligible for the 120 necessary to receive loan forgiveness. The senators also encourage the secretary to expand the types of positions eligible for forgiveness to include for-profit early childhood education employees and self-employed independent contractors working full time at qualifying organizations. The department plans to finalize the rules by Nov. 1. The administration has already forgiven $26 billion for 1.3 million federal student loan borrowers through executive action.

Indian Child Welfare Act Webinar Showed What’s at Stake this Fall

On Aug. 11, Social Current CEO Jody Levison-Johnson and Sarah Kastelic, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, hosted a webinar on the upcoming Supreme Court case Brackeen v. Haaland. The lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, considered by many experts to be the “gold standard” in child welfare because it prioritizes placement of native foster children in extended families and within tribal communities whenever possible. Levison-Johnson noted that research supports ICWA by consistently showing that kids thrive when they grow up with their family, community, and culture.

Kastelic spoke about the history of the harmful policies of the federal government leading up to ICWA, including forced assimilation through boarding schools and family separation through the child welfare system. She also explained how these practices of taking children from their families fit with common colonialist actions worldwide.

Regarding the Supreme Court Case, Kastelic argued that the challenge to ICWA is not just about the future of native children but also tribal sovereignty. If the Supreme Court rules against the ICWA, it may be the start of an effort to chip away at tribes’ ability to govern themselves and do what is best for their citizens.

Log in to watch a recording of the webinar online. Anyone may create a free account.

How well does your strategic plan align with current best practices (GOV 2: Strategic and Annual Planning), while also leaving room for the agility needed to be successful in today’s ever-changing world and stay true to your mission?

Please join us at SPARK 2022, Sept. 13-14 in Baltimore to gain tools and practical knowledge for implementing innovative practice, policy, and research. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear from staff at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch during their workshop, Moving from Strategic Planning to Strategic Action: Creating a Nimble and Innovative Organization, where you will:

  • Receive an introduction to the concepts of a Strategic Action Model
  • Be provided with tools and monitoring strategies which can be implemented to increase clarity and empower innovation within mission-directed parameters
  • Gain opportunities to practice the model using examples from the group

You’ll also want to hear from staff at Child and Family Agency of Southeastern CT where they will share their model to improve staff morale and overall retention at the Build Your Bench: Investing and Retaining the Next Generation of Leaders workshop.

This conversation is critical as it’s no secret that the workforce crisis has created huge challenges to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable individuals served by our sector. COA Accreditation’s Training and Supervision (TS) standards focus on practices needed to ensure you have the competencies, support, and continuous learning opportunities you need to fulfill roles and meet the needs of the people you serve. The right programs and approaches to those standards can provide a proactive approach to staff retention, building positive team morale, and improved organization performance despite those ongoing barriers and challenges and ensures the needs of your community continue to be addressed.

If you’re looking to get the most out of your COA Accreditation experience, be sure to attend the post-conference Intensive Accreditation Training session on Sept. 15 in Baltimore.

Register Today

After a rare weekend meeting of the United States Senate, Senate Democrats on Sunday, Aug. 7, passed a comprehensive $740 billion tax, climate, and health care reconciliation measure, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the deciding vote. The legislation titled the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will significantly advance President Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda if it passes the House of Representatives.

The health care provisions in the bill are significant. The legislation outlines a method for Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. This new negotiating power could save the federal government $288 billion over ten years. The bill would also cap Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year and impose a financial penalty on drug companies that raise prices faster than the inflation rate. On top of these Medicare reforms, the bill would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years, lowering premiums for approximately 13 million people. 
  
Additionally, the bill could reduce the deficit by $300 billion, invest $370 billion in energy security and climate change programs, boost IRS funding by $80 billion, implement a 15% minimum corporate tax on corporations with over $1 billion in value, and close the so-called carried interest loophole, among other things.  
  
Now that the legislation has passed the Senate, it will go to the House of Representatives, where Democrats can afford to lose only a handful of votes. President Biden has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Senate Appropriations Bills Released

On Jul. 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee released 12 appropriations bills for the fiscal year 2023, representing the Senate Democrats’ opening salvo in the upcoming negotiations with Republicans over next year’s federal budget. These bills are subject to substantial change as the process unfolds, and Social Current will keep you updated on the negotiations throughout the fall.

The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill includes $216.1 billion in funding, a $21 billion, or 10%, increase from the fiscal year 2022 level. Here are some of the highlights from the bill:

In addition, the transportation and housing appropriations bill increased funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development by $4.3 billion above FY2022 to $70 billion.

Finally, in the agriculture appropriations bill, critical nutrition programs received significant increases in funding.

Senate Committee on Aging Holds Hearing on Tech and People with Disabilities

On Jul. 28, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing called “Click Here: Accessible Federal Technology for People with Disabilities, Older Americans, and Veterans,” which explored the technological barriers that hold back people with disabilities, who are disproportionately older Americans and veterans. Chairman Bob Casey (D-Penn.) opened the hearing by stating that though the government came a long way during the earlier part of the pandemic to increase digital accessibility, a report found that only 10% of Veterans Affairs websites were fully accessible, particularly for the blind. Another topic was telehealth. Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-S.C.) highlighted the Telehealth Modernization Act, making telehealth flexibilities permanent after the public health emergency. One of the witnesses, Eve Hill of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, was formerly a deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. She noted that the federal government’s immense buying power could influence developers and suppliers to update their electronic and information technology to be more accessible to the general public. Finally, a retired navy veteran, Ronald G. Holmquest, said that telehealth and technology upgrades had allowed him to take full advantage of the VA’s health offerings and pressed Congress to continue in the right direction.

New Fact Sheet for the Affordable Connectivity Program

The White House released a fact sheet that helps families access internet services through the Affordable Connectivity Program, a new program created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure law passed last year. The program gives eligible households a $30 discount per month on their internet bills. These households can also get $100 off the purchase of a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet through the program. The fact sheet walks prospective applicants through signing up for the program, including an online tool to determine eligibility. For individuals to qualify, households must either earn less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participate in another program like Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, or WIC. The fact sheet also provides a list of participating internet service providers.

Social Current and the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) today announced a webinar to take place August 11 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET on Challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act and Tribal Sovereignty. The webinar will feature Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, and Social Current president and CEO Jody Levison-Johnson discussing the impact of challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act, known as ICWA.

This fall, the Supreme Court will take up Haaland v. Brackeen, a case that challenges ICWA, which was passed by Congress in 1978 in response to the high rate of removal of Native children from their families. The law emphasizes that Native children be placed with extended families and tribal communities whenever possible to ensure children have a continued connection to their culture and people. Child welfare leaders and organizations agree that ICWA is the “gold standard” of child welfare policy. In the decades since its passage, placing children with relatives whenever possible has become a best practice that is increasingly codified into state and federal law.

Urgently, ICWA faces new, pressing challenges today from opponents who maliciously argue that the law is racist and unconstitutional because it creates a different set of rules for Native children. This is a blatant and intentional misunderstanding of tribal sovereignty, and an attempt to use ICWA as a backdoor to ultimately undermine the rights of tribes in areas like tribal economic development and land rights.

The webinar will feature a far-ranging conversational discussion on:

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed by Congress in response to a family separation crisis. Research at that time found that 25%-35% of all American Indian and Alaska Native children were separated from their parents, extended families, and communities by state child welfare and private adoption agencies, compounding nearly 200 years of active cultural genocide through the boarding school system that began in the early 1800s. ICWA put child welfare best practice into law to reverse these assimilationist policies and practices.

The webinar is open to the public and to the media. If interested, please register here.
To request an interview with Jody Levison-Johnson, please contact Jdevlin@social-current.org. To request an interview with Sarah Kastelic, please contact Amory@NICWA.org.

Social Current today announced that Blair Kiser joined the organization as senior director of government relations July 25, 2022. In this role, they will be based out of Social Current’s Washington, D.C. office and will represent Social Current to Congress, federal agencies, and applicable state governments. In addition, they will coordinate activities and partnerships with fellow human services organizations engaged with Social Current and in Washington, D.C. to advance aligned goals.

Prior to joining Social Current, Blair served as the director of government relations and advocacy at NephCure Kidney International and before that served as a Professional Staff Member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, where they led a corporate investigation regarding insider trading and financial improprieties, conflicts of interest associated with the leadership of Operation Warp Speed, and politicization of scientific information. Blair also has experience serving as a Health Policy Fellow for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) leading a range of legislative and oversight efforts involving public health and healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they worked with several community hospice advocacy organizations and a Republican office to help craft the bipartisan COVID-19 Hospice Respite Care Relief Act of 2020. Blair also spent several years as a medical research scientist on several industry and NIH-funded projects. They earned a doctorate in Biomedical Science from Morehouse School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Kentucky.

“As someone steeped in health policy, advocacy and equity issues, Blair has the expertise to execute advocacy efforts on behalf of Social Current’s policy goals of advancing equity; improving health and well-being; increasing economic opportunity and mobility; and achieving social sector health and excellence,” commented Social Current president and CEO Jody Levison-Johnson. “We are thrilled to have their vast experience and connections on the Hill to help continue to grow and inform our public policy practice.”

“I am excited to engage with policy leaders on behalf of Social Current’s mission to advocate for and implement equitable solutions to society’s toughest challenges through collaboration, innovation, policy and practice excellence,” noted Blair Kiser. “The purpose- and values-driven aspect of Social Current’s work aligns perfectly with the values I espouse and the ways in which I believe I can make a difference in the field of policy and advocacy.”

Last month, Social Current released its 2022-2024 Public Policy Agenda, which was developed with input from the Social Current network through focus groups, surveys, and individual conversations. The agenda details the policies Social Current seeks to accelerate in four key areas:

A full copy of Social Current’s 2022-2024 Public Policy Agenda can be found at this link.

On August 11, Social Current will host a webinar called “Challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and Tribal Sovereignty” on the upcoming Supreme Court case Brackeen v. Haaland. The case challenges the ICWA, a law enacted in 1978, which is considered the “gold standard” in child welfare practice. Enacted to put an end to generations of separating Native children from their parents, the ICWA prioritizes placement with extended families and tribal communities whenever possible, preserving children’s connection to their culture and people. Opponents of the law argue that the ICWA is unconstitutional because it treats Native children differently in the child welfare system – an argument that fundamentally misunderstands tribal sovereignty. The Supreme Court will take up the case this fall.

Social Current is a major proponent of shifting resources and supports upstream to prevent family separation; however, if a placement is necessary, the research is clear that extended family and kinship care settings are optimal. Separating Native children from their families and communities goes against everything we understand about child well-being and equity. Please join Social Current President and CEO Jody Levison-Johnson and Dr. Sarah Kastelic, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Organization, to learn more about ICWA and what you can do to help.

Manchin Opts for Healthcare Bill, Delays Climate and Tax Provisions

Two weeks ago, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he would delay consideration of a legislative package focused on climate change provisions and tax increases on the wealthy. In prior weeks, both senators had said they were making progress on the bill, but Manchin put a hold on talks after the June inflation report recorded the highest inflation increase in 40 years. In the meantime, he said he could support a slimmed down health care bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, cap out of pocket costs for seniors at $2,000 per year, and extend Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies for 13 million people for two years. Biden has called on Congress to pass the health care bill and Schumer says it could pass before the August recess.

First-Ever Grant Funding for Integrated Approaches to Homelessness

The Biden administration announced the first-ever batch of grants to address unsheltered homelessness and homeless encampments through integrated approaches. The package of $322 million, including $54.5 for rural communities, supports initiatives that tie together housing, healthcare and veteran services and expressly encourages coordination between health care organizations, public housing authorities, and other housing providers. These grants will fund homeless outreach, permanent housing, and other support services. In addition to these funds, another batch of $43 million is now available for 4,000 housing vouchers to aid individuals experiencing or at-risk of homelessness, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and veterans and their families.

New Ratings in the Family First Prevention Services Clearinghouse

The Family First Prevention Clearinghouse has posted new ratings for nine prevention services. One was found to be “well-supported”, one “supported”, two “promising”, and five rated as “does not currently meet criteria”. The programs included mental health services, in-home parent skill-based services, and substance abuse services. So far 109 programs and services have been reviewed, and 57 have been rated as promising, supported, or well-supported.

The new ratings are as follows:

Social Current announced the lineup for their upcoming annual conference, taking place Sep. 13-14 at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, 401 West Pratt Street in Baltimore, Maryland. SPARK 2022 will be a two-day in-person learning experience that will showcase insight and expertise from across the social sector on achieving greater impact so all people can thrive. Registration is now open (early bird registration rates available through Aug. 15) and can be accessed here.

“Fueled by a commitment to advance equity and improve the well-being of all people, we hope this conference will spark and elevate important conversations around some of today’s most vexing challenges,” commented Jody Levison-Johnson, president and CEO of Social Current. “We will be exploring topics that are critical for organizational excellence and social sector impact, including brain science; equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); organizational and service delivery innovations; and workforce resilience and leadership. We invite social sector leaders from across the nation to join us for inspiration and to access practical tools for implementing innovative practice, policy, and research.”

SPARK 2022 will open Tuesday, Sep. 13 with a keynote address from Michele Borba, an internationally renowned educator, author and parenting child expert whose inspiring TEDx talk on empathy resonated with audiences worldwide. Her keynote will focus on how to use the “Empathy Advantage” to build valuable social capital with organizations and with clients, colleagues, and donors.

The closing keynote on Wednesday, Sept. 14 will feature Heather R. Younger, the founder and CEO of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement and consulting firm. Her talk will focus on how to build a culture of belonging, drawing on her personal experiences as the only child of an interfaith and interracial marriage. A diversity, equity, and inclusion strategist, she is a regular contributor to Forbes and Fast Company and is the bestselling author of The Art of Caring Leadership.

Key sessions over the two-day conference will include:

Pre-conference sessions will also take place Monday, Sept. 12 and post-conference sessions will take place Thursday, Sept. 15. For a full schedule of pre- and post-conference sessions check here.

Sponsorship and exhibitor packages for SPARK 2022 are available. Through Social Current’s network, sponsors have the opportunity to reach more than 12,000 human services professionals representing more than 1,800 organizations that serve nearly 70 million individuals. For more information on sponsorship opportunities check here.

Democrats are attempting to revive parts of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which was scuttled in the Senate late last year. Conversations behind closed doors are taking place between Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), and progress on a few key sticking points has been made. For one, they have agreed on giving the federal government the power to negotiate lower prices for certain drugs under Medicare, which would save the program billions in the coming years. The plan would also cap yearly drug costs for seniors at $2,000 and penalize pharmaceutical companies that raise prices faster than inflation. Manchin and Schumer also came to an agreement on closing a tax loophole on so-called “pass-through” businesses, which would help keep Medicare solvent until 2031.

Sticking points still exist on several other issues. Manchin has yet to voice support for extending enhanced subsidies to consumers who purchase health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges–a provision from the American Rescue Plan which passed last year. Without his support, 13 million people would experience premium increases next year. It is also unclear whether other prized Democratic priorities, like affordable child care and universal pre-kindergarten, will earn his support and make it into the final bill. To pass through the expedited legislative process called reconciliation, all 50 Democratic senators, including another hold out, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), would need to support the final version of the package. Senator Schumer says that a bill could reach the Senate floor as soon as late July.

New Executive Order on Equality for LGBTQI+ Communities

Last month, the White House released a new Executive Order (EO) on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Individuals. The EO calls on the federal government to tackle discrimination, eliminate disparities, and “pursue a comprehensive approach to delivering the full promise of equality for LGBTQI+ individuals.” It also asks the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education to protect LGBTQI+ individuals from harmful state and local laws and encourage policies and practices that support their safety, well-being, and rights, and foster health equity, especially in mental health care. The HHS Secretary is tasked with addressing discrimination and challenges faced by LBGTQI+ children in the child welfare system. Activities include promotion of policies that improve outcomes for the population, increased training, and technical assistance to State child welfare agencies, evaluations of current practices that result in disparities, and more data collection on LBGTQI+ youth in the child welfare system. The EO calls on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a Working Group on LGBTQI+ Homelessness and Housing Equity, which would identify supports that address homelessness and housing instability.

Work Requirement Bills Introduced in the House

Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) introduced the America Works Act of 2022 in the House of Representatives, which would require all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants between the ages of 18 and 65 to work or volunteer at least 20 hours per week to remain eligible. The Jobs and Opportunities for Medicaid Act, introduced by Jake LaTurner (R-KS), would create the same work requirement for Medicaid beneficiaries. According to Rep. Davis’s fact sheet, in April 2022 there were 11.4 million job openings, with over 11 million able-bodied adults who aren’t working. As of now, states determine whether they implement work requirements for participation in these programs.

New, Confidential Hotline for Pregnant and New Moms

The Health Resources and Services Administration has created the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, a free and confidential resource for moms before, during, and after pregnancy. The hotline is available 24/7, in both English and Spanish, with interpreter services in 60 languages. Professional counselors, such as nurses, doctors, mental health clinicians, doulas, and peer support specialists are on call to provide real-time support and information, as well as referrals to local and telehealth providers and support groups. Women who are feeling overwhelmed, sad, anxious, or exhausted before or after giving birth are encouraged to call or text the hotline at 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS. Congress authorized funding for the new hotline in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.