Labor

The Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act, re-introduced late last year, would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to focus on homeless and foster youth, bringing changes that would address ongoing barriers to higher education for this population.

Youth Services Insider took in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing this week on the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) program, under which custody of kids at the border is transferred from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

President Barack Obama submitted his budget for fiscal year 2015 yesterday, including billions of dollars in funding for youth services related to child welfare, juvenile justice, job training and education. Readers can access the Chronicle of Social Change‘s complete chart of the youth services spending by clicking here.

The Department of Labor announced plans to spend $20 million on four intermediary-led, multi-state efforts to connect juvenile offenders with education and job-training opportunities. The department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will use fiscal 2012 funding appropriated through the Workforce Investment Act to fund the four ventures, which according to the solicitation for the funds will include: Workforce development Education and training Case management Mentoring Restorative justice Community-wide violence reduction components Post-program support and follow-up The awards will go to intermediary organizations, which will only be allowed to manage the work; all program services must be carried out by sub-grantees selected in a competitive process to be conducted after the awards are announced.

Senate Finance Looks at Poverty and TANF Reauthorization On Tuesday, June 6, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing, “Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families.” The hearing focused on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.