National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 - October 15. A proclamation was made by The White House calling upon all Americans to observe this month with activities celebrating Hispanic heritage and recognizing the impact Hispanic people have had on our nation. Find out more about Hispanic Heritage Month here. | |
Help us support APHSA’s EDI journey! We are requesting proposals to contract with an organization to provide leadership development, staff learning, and facilitated discussions/coaching that continue to advance APHSA’s culture of racial equity and justice. Over the past year, led by staff input, APHSA developed a strategic roadmap that will guide our work for the next 3-5 years. Proposal deadline is October 14. Learn more here. | |
Be the first to share your voice! We'd greatly appreciate hearing about your past experiences with APHSA in our latest engagement survey. By taking just a few minutes of your time, your insights will help serve as a compass that will keep our work rooted in our collective vision for a nation of thriving communities built on human potential. | |
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Maternal Home Visiting Reauthorization Advances in House
On September 21, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, and double annual funding for the program to $800 million over five years. The legislation includes changes that impact state administration, including new maintenance of effort requirements, state matching for a new grant program, and changes to administrative caps. The bills next move to the Senate.
Read Committee Announcement
Read Summary of Legislation
Read Section-by-Section
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Plans for a Continuing Resolution Move Forward but Uncertainty Remains
Senate and House leaders are preparing to advance stopgap funding legislation needed by the end of next week to avoid a government shutdown. However, uncertainty over support for plans to attach energy infrastructure permitting language to the bill leaves some question as to the path towards a short-term spending bill before the end of the federal fiscal year.
Learn More
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Child and Family Well-Being | |
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HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration
The Health and Human Services’ (HHS) roadmap for behavioral health was created to address the President’s plan for the national mental health crisis. HHS has identified barriers to transforming behavioral health care according to the plan and provides evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and person-centered behavioral health care methods in its brief to overcome these barriers.
Read Brief
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Congressman Blake Moore Introduces the Connecting Forever Families Act of 2022
Congressman Blake Moore (R-UT) presented the Connecting Forever Families Act to Congress on September 9. The act’s purpose is to improve America’s child welfare system and speed up placing foster care children in supportive homes by providing resources to the Court Improvement Program (CIP), which supports child welfare judicial processes.
Read Press Release
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Murphy, Miller Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Improve Legal Services System for Children and Families
U.S. Representatives Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Carol Miller (R-WV) introduced bipartisan legislation on September 20 to improve access to legal services for children and families across the nation. The Strengthening Courts for Kids and Families Act would invest $30 million to reauthorize and strengthen the Court Improvement Program (CIP). The legislation would help states enhance collaborations between child welfare agencies and the court system.
Read Press Release
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Employment and Economic Well-Being | |
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FNS Sends SNAP Commissioners Letter on New DHS Public Charge Final Rule
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) sent a letter to State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Commissioners to ensure they are aware of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule on public charge. This rulemaking codifies that the receipt of SNAP or other Federal nutrition assistance are not considered when making a public charge determination.
Read Letter
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USDA Continues to Add New Retailers for SNAP Online Shopping
In March 2020, the online purchasing pilot for redeeming Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits served about 35,000 households. In July 2022, just over 3 million SNAP households used their benefits online. In the last four months, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has added 44 new retailers representing 1,240 store locations to accept online SNAP benefits.
Read Press Release
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NEW Program Plan Guidance Introduced by ACF
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has released program plan guidance for the Native Employment Works (NEW) program. This release replaces previous NEW program plan guidance. The guidance covers NEW program renewal plans that are submitted for the period of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025. Applicants should submit plans by the specified deadline in the guidance to their Regional Office.
Read Guidance
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Webinar - Bringing Long-Term Stability to the Child Care Market: Effective Workforce and Subsidy Policy Strategies
Join us for a webinar with the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS), sharing insights from leading researchers on effective practices to recruit, retain, and advance child care workforce. Featuring strategies to support policies that increase access to affordable and quality child care, through programs like the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF). With speakers from MEF Associates, the University of VA, and Urban Institute.
Thursday, September 29, 3:00 PM ET
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Webinar - Going Beyond Self-Care: Re-Focusing on Worker
Well-Being to Combat Turnover
Join us for a webinar with Northwoods, sharing strategies to help with retention and turnover within your organization. Attendees will leave this webinar with practical tools to assess their agency's culture, strategies to foster psychological safety culture, and best practices to help with retention and turnover within your organization.
Wednesday, October 5, 3:00 PM ET
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Peer Learning Webinar — Continuous Quality Improvement in VA: Applying DAPIM™ in Fairfax County DFS and Richmond DSS
Join us to hear how two agencies in Virginia – Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services and Richmond’s Department of Social Services – partnered with APHSA and used DAPIM™ to implement their plans around organizational development and strategic change management. We welcome you to join this discussion and share your experiences and practices around CQI and managing change in the human services sector.
Thursday, October 6, 2:00-3:30 PM ET
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Upcoming APHSA Conferences | |
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American Association of Health and Human Services Attorneys (AAHHSA) Annual Education Conference
The 2022 American Association of Health and Human Services Attorneys (AAHHSA) Annual Education Conference will be held at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square, Columbus, OH. The AAHHSA conference is a comprehensive learning and networking experience for attorneys who represent the state and local government agencies that administer health and human services programs. This conference promotes pragmatic innovation in health and human services while facilitating the exchange of information between attorneys from across the nation.
October 9-12, 2022
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National Staff Development and Training Association (NSDTA) Education Conference
The 2022 National Staff Development and Training Association (NSDTA) Education Conference will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Spokane City Center in Spokane, WA. This conference brings together human services organizational development, staff development, and training professionals at the local, state, and federal levels. Join us for the opportunity to share ideas, resources, and engage in robust sessions. We are focusing on forward-thinking ideas about instructional design, workforce development, evaluation and research, and much more!
October 16-19, 2022
The 2022 NSDTA Conference registration is sold out! If you missed the opportunity to register, it’s not too late. Please complete this form so we can add you to our waitlist should we have any cancellations in the next few weeks. Sign up now for the on-demand package, which will include the live stream during the conference of all general sessions. Normally priced at $295, we are offering a pre-purchase price of $200, a $95 savings when purchased prior to October 19. If you have any questions, please contact the APHSA Events Team at [email protected].
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Information Technology Solutions Management for Human Services (ISM) Annual Conference & Expo
The 2022 Information Technology Solutions Management for Human Services (ISM) Annual Conference & Expo will be held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. This event brings together agency leaders in technology, along with the private sector firms focused on providing solutions for health and human services agencies. The content presented will promote IT solutions and best practices that enhance the delivery of health and human services.
October 23-26, 2022
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White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
The Biden-Harris Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In parallel to the conference, they will be announcing a National Strategy that identifies steps the government will take to catalyze the public and private sectors to address the intersections between food, hunger, nutrition, and health. An updated agenda has been released to share that President Biden, the Second Gentleman, Ambassador Rice, Secretary Vilsack, Secretary Becerra, and Chef Jose Andres will be speaking. Additionally, they have shared panel descriptions for the conference.
September 28, 2022
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Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding: What to Know and How to Prepare, A Partner Education Monthly Series
Join the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a series of calls running through December 2022 on the Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding, to share what agencies and partners should know and guidance on how to prepare for the forthcoming unwinding.
September 28, 12:00 PM ET
October 26, 12:00 PM ET
December 7, 12:00 PM ET
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APHSA Career Center - Post Your Open Positions Today
APHSA serves as a clearinghouse for job opportunities throughout the health and human services (H/HS) field. Employers reach a wide audience of candidates looking for careers in H/HS and job seekers will find a bevy of opportunities throughout the country.
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