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Policy Update: October 2018

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SRCD News Related to Child and Family Policy

SRCD Policy Fellowship Program: Apply Now

We are seeking applicants for the SRCD Policy Fellowship Program for the 2019-2020 academic year. There are two fellowship programs: federal and state. The purpose of the fellowships is to provide researchers with immersive opportunities to learn firsthand about policy development, implementation, and evaluation, and to use their research skills in child development to inform public policy at either the federal or state level. All fellowships will be from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. 
 
Federal Policy Fellowship 
There are two types of federal fellowships: congressional and executive branch. Both fellowships are full-time immersion experiences in Washington, D.C. where fellows will work as resident scholars within congressional or federal executive branch agency offices. Application Requirements: Applicants must have a doctoral-level degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., Ed.D.), must demonstrate exceptional competence in an area of child development research, must be U.S. citizens, and must be members of SRCD. We welcome applications from early, mid-career, and advanced professionals. This fellowship will help developmental scientists at all career stages understand policy development, implementation, and evaluation; the potential for linkages between research and policy; how to communicate more effectively with policymakers; and how to formulate more informed and useful questions for policy-related research. Applications are due online by December 14, 2018, 11:59pm Eastern. For more information about the SRCD Federal Policy Fellowship Program, click here or email policyfellowships@srcd.org. To apply to the fellowship, click here.  
 
State Policy Fellowship 
There are two types of state fellowships: pre-doctoral and post-doctoral. SRCD will be awarding up to four part-time pre-doctoral state fellowships, and two full-time post-doctoral state fellowships. Fellows are placed in state executive branch agency offices for immersion experiences. In addition to a placement supervisor within the executive branch agency, fellows will receive support from an academic mentor. SRCD expects the state fellowships to provide fellows with opportunities for exposure to policy development, implementation, and evaluation; to develop skills in mutual communication between researchers and policymakers; and to learn about ways research can be used to inform policy at the state level. Submit letters of intent by December 21, 2018, 11:59pm Eastern. For more information about the SRCD State Policy Fellowship Program, including requirements and procedures for submission of letters of intent, click here or emailpolicyfellowships@srcd.org. 

Welcome to the 2018-2019 Class of SRCD Policy Fellows

SRCD Executive Branch Fellows 
Sarah Blankenship, Ph.D., Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
Erin Cannon, Ph.D., OPRE, ACF, HHS 
Amanda Gatewood, Ph.D., M.P.H., OPRE, ACF, HHS 
Anne Day Leong, Ph.D., M.S.W., Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH 
Francesca Longo, Ph.D., Office of Child Care (OCC), ACF, HHS 
Kelly Jedd McKenzie, Ph.D., Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), HHS 
Rachel McKinnon, Ph.D., OCC, ACF, HHS 
Emily Ross, Ph.D., OPRE, ACF, HHS 

SRCD Congressional Fellows 
Paula Daneri, Ph.D., House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Democratic Staff 
Marisa Morin, Ph.D., Senate Finance Committee under Ranking Member Senator Ron Wyden, Democratic Staff 

SRCD Post-doctoral State Policy Fellows 
Rachel Katz, Ph.D., State Agency Placement: Division of Early Intervention, Massachusetts Department of Public Health 
Alicia Miao, Ph.D., State Agency Placement: Early Learning Division, Oregon Department of Education 

SRCD Pre-doctoral State Policy Fellows 
Nneka Ibekwe, M.S.W, Ed.M., University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education 
State Agency Placement: Office of Early Learning, Delaware Department of Education 
Caroline Martin, University of Vermont 
State Agency Placement: Vermont Agency of Education 
Meghan McDoniel, M.S., M.Ed., The Pennsylvania State University 
State Agency Placement: Bureau of Early Learning Services, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning 
Elizabeth Tremaine, M.S., Portland State University 
State Agency Placement: Early Learning Division, Oregon Department of Education 

Legislative Branch Updates

FY19 Appropriations: President Signs Funding Bill, Averting Partial Government Shutdown

On September 28, President Trump signed H.R.6157 into law. This bill is a large spending package that includes $855.1 billion in funding for the departments of Defense, Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2019 (FY19), as well as a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal agencies not funded by the start of the fiscal year funded through December 7. Although the CR prevented a partial government shutdown at the start of FY19, there is still much appropriations work to do when Congress returns following the midterm elections. Only five of twelve appropriations bills have been passed for FY19. The remaining seven bills, including, among others, the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS), Agriculture, and Homeland Security bills, will need to be completed before the CR expires on December 7. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has a detailed breakdown of the funding included in the Defense-Labor-HHS-ED spending bill, available here.  

President Signs Bipartisan Opioid Package

On October 24, President Trump signed H.R. 6, a large legislative package focused on combating the opioid crisis, into law. The Senate had previously adopted the conference report for this legislation on a 98-1 vote on October 3, with the House of Representatives voting 393-8 to adopt the conference report on September 28. This legislation addresses many different facets of the opioid epidemic, including prevention, treatment, and research, and is considered by many to be the most significant bipartisan achievement of 2018. The bill contains several provisions important to children and families, including: guidance for improving care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome and their mothers, including funding for state and local systems to improve their development and implementation of plans of safe care for infants exposed to opioids neonatally; the establishment of a task force to identify and evaluate best practices in trauma-informed care for children and families impacted by substance use disorder; grants to improve mental health care and trauma support services for children in educational settings; changes to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to ensure access to mental health and substance use disorder services for children and pregnant women; and provisions encouraging use of family-focused residential treatment programs, which allow children to reside with a parent in a trauma-informed residential treatment program, as applicable and appropriate.

Senate Committee Hearing on State Implementation of ESSA

On September 25, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing entitled “The Every Student Succeeds Act: States Leading the Way.” Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) opened the hearing by recapping the bipartisan process for passing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which included 27 HELP Committee hearings and a 3-day markup of the legislation. Senator Alexander also shared comments he has received from educators, including a teacher in Tennessee who noted that ESSA created “a real opportunity for our state to…enact change, especially in traditionally underserved communities,” and another educator who stated that “ESSA provides a window of opportunity for teachers to get in on the policy discussion and the law’s implementation planning.” Senator Alexander concluded his opening remarks by emphasizing the importance of the implementation phase of ESSA, and noted that in order for this law to truly meet its legislative intent, states will need to set a high bar for implementation. Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) used her opening statement to express concern over how Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is implementing ESSA, such as by approving state ESSA plans that do not comply with the law as written and concern that “students will fall through the cracks and schools will be left off worse.” She also reinforced that Secretary DeVos should come testify in front of the HELP Committee, a request that she has made in previous hearings as well, noting that we are now 20 months into the current administration and neither Secretary DeVos nor anyone else from the Department of Education has testified before the HELP Committee. Senator Murray concluded, “our federal education law should not be focused solely on making states’ lives easier, it should be about providing every student, no matter where they live, or how they learn, or how much money their parents make, the opportunity to better themselves through education.” 

Witnesses discussed a range of issues related to ESSA implementation including: that ESSA has allowed states to better align federal programs with their state systems, something that in many cases would not have been possible under No Child Left Behind without applying for multiple waivers; the value of stakeholder input in both designing ESSA state plans as well as the implementation process; the use of multidisciplinary performance support teams under ESSA to address underperforming schools, rather than only having a single office within a state education agency focusing on performance improvement; the need to keep equity at the forefront of the conversation and ensure that all subgroups are appropriately accounted for in all state plans; and how the flexibility of ESSA has helped some states renew their commitment to underserved areas. Witnesses included: Matthew Blomstedt, Commissioner, Nebraska Department of Education; Susan Bunting, Secretary, Delaware Department of Education; Shavar Jeffries, President, Education Reform Now; and Molly Spearman, Superintendent, South Carolina Department of Education. Click here to watch the full hearing and read witness testimonies.  

House Subcommittee Hearing on Reducing Maternal Mortality in the U.S. 

On September 27, the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing entitled “Better Data and Better Outcomes: Reducing Maternal Mortality in the U.S.” Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess (R-TX) opened by indicating that the maternal mortality rate has increased from 2000 to 2014 in the U.S., while the international rate has declined. He noted that there is a lack of accurate data on causes for maternal deaths noting, “we must ensure accurate data to accurately pinpoint the clinical issues contributing to these tragic deaths.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Al Green (D-TX) followed by also noting the racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in maternal deaths stating, “African American women are nearly three times more likely to die of complications relating to pregnancy and child birth compared to White women.” 

House Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) was the first witness to testify as one of the co-sponsors of the bill, Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2018. This bipartisan legislation would provide federal support to states and tribes to establish or strengthen maternal mortality review committees (MMRC), which would bring together multidisciplinary teams to investigate, according to Representative Herrera Beutler, “why [these maternal deaths are] happening and what we need to do to fix it.” In addition, she noted that the act would seek to “empower states to participate in national information sharing through the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], allowing increased collaboration to address the maternal mortality rate.” The second panel of witnesses described a range of issues, including: the need for standardizing reporting practices across the nation to have sufficient data to identify best practices to prevent maternal deaths; providing technical assistance from the federal government for MMRCs so that they can use evidence-based practices; addressing implicit biases among practitioners and gaps in the system that disproportionately affect women of color, low-income women, and women living in rural areas; taking a systems approach to addressing this public health crisis that includes access to high quality, affordable, preventative health care; and acknowledging the success of existing MMRCs in decreasing the maternal mortality rate in some areas of the country. Witnesses included: Charles Johnson, Founder, 4Kira4Moms; Lynne Coslett-Charlton, Pennsylvania District Legislative Chair, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Joia Crear Perry, Founder and President, National Birth Equity Collaborative; and Stacey Stewart, President, March of Dimes. Click here to watch the full hearing and read witness testimonies.

Congressional Briefing on Federal Spending on Children

On October 4, First Focus hosted the 2018 Children’s Budget Summit on Capitol Hill to release Children’s Budget 2018, First Focus’ annual publication of federal spending trends on children’s programs. Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus, opened the event by providing an overview of the publication and discussing some of the challenges that children face in the budgeting process, including that spending on child-focused programs is primarily discretionary and/or capped, whereas programs for adults and seniors are more likely to have a mandatory funding stream and built-in growth mechanisms. Lesley also noted that while there is very strong public support for children’s issues, structural obstacles in the budget and policy process are the major barriers to making children a priority in the federal budget. He then outlined 12 structural solutions for Congress to consider, which included: creating a children’s budget, identifying a dedicated revenue source for some children’s programs, creating a national bipartisan commission on children, and converting the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to a permanent, mandatory program.  

Three experts then gave presentations on topics related to federal spending trends on children, followed by a panel discussion. Dr. Lynn Karoly of the RAND Corporation discussed the importance of appropriately financing early care and education programs, and the insufficiency of existing federal funding in this area. Dr. Natasha Slesnick of Ohio State University then addressed the impact of the opioid epidemic on children and adolescents, noting that prevention services are critical both for adolescents at risk for addiction as well as for children of parents with a substance use disorder. The final panelist, Rev. Fr. Douglas Greenway of the National WIC Association, discussed the need for additional and more stable funding to expand the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program because, as a domestic discretionary program, it is dramatically impacted by budget caps and constant continuing resolutions. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) was then presented with the 2017 Champions for Children Award in recognition of her ongoing advocacy on behalf of children and families, especially on issues related to health insurance, youth in foster care, and food insecurity.  

The keynote address by Dr. Mona-Hanna-Attisha focused on her experience as a pediatrician in Flint, MI as the water crisis was unfolding. While much of her presentation focused on the failures of those in charge to protect children, noting that policies (or lack of policies) “are literally shaving years off of children’s lives” and that “Flint is what happens when the people charged with keeping us safe care more about money and power than our children,” she also offered a message of hope. She discussed how the community is now providing every possible service to buffer the impacts of lead exposure for children in Flint and the community came together to surround the children of Flint with services and support, including founding the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. 

First Focus has a number of resources from the event available on its website, including presentation slides, a recap of the event, and the full Children’s Budget 2018 publication. 

Congressional Briefing on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

On October 2, the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance (NPAPA) hosted a briefing entitled “The 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.” Russell Pate, chair of the National Physical Activity Plan, gave opening remarks introducing the 2018 U.S. Report Card, which “assesses the level of physical activity and sedentary behaviors in American children and youth, facilitators and barriers for physical activity, and health outcomes related to physical activity.” The 2018 Report Card’s overall physical activity “grade” was a D-, leading Pate to note, “clearly, there’s a good reason to be concerned with children’s physical activity.” Peter Katzmarzyk, chair of the U.S. Report Card Research Advisory Committee followed by highlighting some of the findings from the report. He noted that only one in four children ages 6-17 in the U.S. are meeting the guideline of 60 minutes of physical activity every day, only 3% of school districts and schools have a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program, and only 30% of high school students attend physical education class five days a week. 

The speakers discussed numerous possible solutions including: creating pathways to a cultural shift to promote physical activity through family, schools and community; addressing the correlation between increased built environments leading to decreased physical activity; and taking a holistic approach by emphasizing a collaborative need by the government, academia, and community organizations to address physical inactivity as a public health issue. Speakers included: Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH, Retired Rear Admiral, Former Deputy and Acting Surgeon General of the United States and current dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Health; Peter T. Katzmarzyk, PhD, FACSM, FAHA, Chair, U.S. Report Card Research Advisory Committee; Jim Whitehead, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, American College of Sports Medicine; Carly Wright, Director, Public Policy and Advocacy, SHAPE America; and Thomas Richards, Director, Community Engagement, American Council on Exercise. The full report is available here, and the event webcast is available here. 

Executive Branch Updates

Request for Comment: Proposed Change to Rule on "Inadmissability on Public Charge Grounds"

The Department of Homeland Security has released a request for public comment on a proposed rule on “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds” that would change the criteria used by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to determine the basis on which those seeking to immigrate to the U.S., or seeking adjustment of status or a visa, would be considered inadmissible to the U.S. because they would be likely to become a public charge, or financial burden to the U.S. SRCD members are encouraged to review the criteria for what would constitute a public charge in the proposed rulemaking and to submit comments with a particular focus on implications for children and families. The deadline to submit a comment is December 10. 

The guidance that has been in place since 1999 interprets public charge based on cash-based income assistance programs such as TANF and Supplemental Security Income as well as emergency Medicaid. The proposed rule would substantially expand what is considered in making a determination of public charge, including also the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), non-emergency Medicaid, the Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing Programs, and institutionalization for long-term care at government expense. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security press release indicates that the public charge determination would be seen as “a prospective determination based on the totality of circumstances, which includes statutorily required factors such as age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status, education, and skills.” The income thresholds in the proposed rule would give a negative weighting to immigrants who earn less than 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, and a positive weighting to immigrants with a household income of at least 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. A recent analysis from an SRCD member of the implications of the proposed changes for families and children is available here. An additional analysis looking specifically at the implications for health care coverage can be found here.

Reminder: NIH Request for Information on Clinical Trials Definition
As discussed in the August edition of Policy Update, SRCD members are urged to respond to a Request for Information (RFI) issued by NIH regarding its clinical trials definition and policy. SRCD is drafting a formal response as an organization that will be shared with membership, and anticipates signing on to letters by the Federation of Associations of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) and the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). SRCD is a member of both organizations.  In addition to SRCD’s response to the RFI on behalf of the association, individual members of SRCD are encouraged to submit a comment as well. The deadline to submit a comment is November 12. Further background and guidance for members considering submitting individual responses is available in this message to SRCD members from Laura Namy, Executive Director of SRCD.

NICHD Strategic Planning Webinar

On October 31, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) will be sponsoring a webinar regarding its recently launched process to revise and update its strategic plan. During the webinar, Dr. Diana Bianchi, NICHD’s director, will provide an overview of the institute's strategic planning discussions. According to NICHD, “The goal of this webinar is to allow external stakeholders to review NICHD’s research portfolio and help focus its science to improve the health and wellbeing of the populations we serve.” Registration is required for participation in this webinar. Information about registration is available here.  

Federal Reports

Reports

New Reports and Briefs from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation 

Several new publications are available from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:  

(1) Family Strengthening Research (FY2017) This report describes the major research investments of the Division of Family Strengthening through Fiscal Year 2017.  

(2) Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) Program in Three Colleges: Implementation and Early Impact Report This report describes the implementation and early impacts of the Washington State Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program, a program that aims to increase access to and completion of college-level occupational training in a variety of in-demand occupational areas. 

(3) Behavioral Health Improvements Over Time among Adults in Families Experiencing Homelessness This research brief explores parents’ behavioral health at the time the family was in an emergency shelter and at 20 and 37 months after experiencing homelessness. 

(4) Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomeVee) Review: Executive Summary & Brief - September 2018 This executive summary provides an overview of the HomVEE review process, a summary of the review results, and a link to the HomVEE website for more detailed information. 

(5) Career Prospects for Certified Nursing Assistants: Insights for Training Programs and Policymakers from the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program This report summarizes what was learned about certified nurse assistant (CNA) training and employment during the set of HPOG grants awarded in 2010 in order to provide insights for training programs and policymakers on the benefits and drawbacks of CNA training and career pathway advancement opportunities. 

(6) Head Start Programs in Spring 2015: Structure, Staff, and Supports for Quality from FACES 2014 This research brief focuses on the characteristics of Head Start programs, leaders, and teachers that prior research shows are related to classroom quality.  

(7) A Year in Head Start: Findings from FACES 2014 on Children’s Progress Toward School Readiness During the 2014-2015 Program Year This research brief describes the family background and developmental progress of Head Start children as they complete a program year (from fall 2014 to spring 2015).  

(8) Tribal Solutions: Subsidized Employment Programs Serving American Indians and Alaska Natives This report highlights strategies that some Tribal TANF programs have used to implement subsidized employment programs and the contexts in which they operate. 

New Reports and Briefs from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

New publications are available from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:  

(1) Are Parents with a Child Support Order More Likely to Be Eligible for Both SNAP and Subsidized Child Care? This infographic highlights the overlap in the populations of custodial and noncustodial parents with and without formal child support orders who are eligible for both Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and subsidized child care (CCDF). 

(2) Building the Next Generation of Child Support Policy Research This research agenda is a framework for the broader child support community to collectively answer pressing policy questions over the next decade. 

New Report from the Institute of Education Sciences

A new report is available from the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education:

(1) What High Schoolers and Their Parents Know About Public 4-Year Tuition and Fees in Their State This Statistics in Brief describes high school student perceptions of the cost of college using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. 

Federal Funding Opportunities

This month’s FFO highlights a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity. The purpose of the NIH Blueprint Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) Award is to support a defined pathway across career stages for outstanding graduate students from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral sciences. This two-phase award will facilitate completion of the doctoral dissertation and transition of talented graduate students to strong neuroscience research postdoctoral positions, and will provide career development opportunities relevant to their long-term career goal of becoming independent neuroscience researchers. Completed applications are due by 5pm local time of applicant organization on December 13, 2018. Click here to read about this and other federal funding opportunities.