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Social Policy Network Newsletter: October 25

Date

October 25, 2024

Happy Filipino American History Month!
Happy LGBTQIA+ History Month!

This week's Project 2025 policy focus: Education

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The Social Work Policy Network remains committed to sharing key news updates, policy changes, action opportunities, events & more - with content particularly focused on social justice, equity, and systemic change.

Thank you for your continued support of the Social Work Policy Network!

Are you registered to vote?

Deadlines are approaching!!

Tuesday, November 5th, is Election Day, and it's rapidly approaching. Make a plan about how you are going to vote!

  • Are you registered?
  • Can you vote early?
  • Can you vote by mail?
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Did you know that in some states, even if you registered previously, it is possible that you could have been removed from your states' voter rolls? You can quickly check your voter registration status to ensure you are still actively registered to vote. 

Here are important registration and voting deadlines for the tri-state area:

New Jersey:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NJ voting here.

New York:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NY voting here.

Pennsylvania:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about PA voting here.

Not from any of these states? Don't worry! Click the buttons below to register, verify your voting status, apply to work the polls, find your deadlines and polling place, and sign up to vote by mail.

Professional Opportunities
Bilingual Domestic Violence Program Manager - Ironbound Community Corporation (Newark, NJ)

Program and Events Coordinator - Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) (Hybrid: New Brunswick, NJ)

Bilingual Special Projects Manager - New Jersey Citizen Action (Highland Park, NJ)

Research Data Analyst 2 - New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (Ewing Township, NJ)

Research Analyst, Food Assistance - The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) (Hybrid: Washington, DC)

Human Resources & Training Associate, League of Conservation Voters (Washington, DC)

SNAP Navigator - RWJBH Social Impact and Community Investment (Somerville, Rahway, New Brunswick, Lakewood, Toms River, & Jersey City, NJ)

Assistant Professor of Social Work (MSW), Tenure Track Professor - Stockton University (Galloway, NJ)

National Policy News Highlights
Climate change harming young people's mental health, study says
Axios
“The study is one of the largest to date to examine how young people are responding to global climate change and government action. The research also reveals new insights into the mental toll on adolescents and young adults of extreme weather events that climate change either propelled or made worse, depending on the type of event.”

Texas sues doctor and accuses her of violating ban on gender-affirming care
The Associated Press
“Texas has sued a Dallas doctor over accusations of providing gender-affirming care to youths, marking one of the first times a state has sought to enforce recent bans driven by Republicans. The lawsuit announced by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday alleges that Dr. May Lau, a physician in the Dallas area, provided hormones to over 20 minors in violation of a Texas ban that took effect last year.”

Regional Policy News Highlights
Homelessness continues climbing in New Jersey, new annual count shows
New Jersey Monitor
“Homelessness in New Jersey has climbed 24% since last year, a trend advocates attributed to an entrenched affordable housing shortage made worse by rising rents and shrinking vacancies. Advocates counted 12,680 people — representing 9,148 households — who were living in shelters, hotels and motels, safe-haven programs, transitional housing, and on the street during their annual assessment, which was done this year on Jan. 23. That’s about 2,400 more than they counted last year and continues an upward swing that started in 2021.”

A New Jersey train crash highlights a failing transit system
Gothamist
“NJ Transit just endured another summer of hell, with multiple electrical issues snarling commutes in and out of Penn Station. Service grew so bad Murphy ordered a weeklong fare holiday in August as an apology. The breakdowns have continued into the fall.”

Upcoming Events
Access to Financial Systems and Advancing Well-Being for Vulnerable Communities and Individuals
Presented by the University of Wisconsin - Madison Institute for Research on Poverty
Wednesday, October 230th, 2024, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
**online**
"Nearly every aspect of modern life relies on the ability to receive funds, make payments, and access monetary resources when needed. But appropriate and affordable financial services are often not available to low-income and otherwise marginalized communities and individuals.

"In this webinar, presenters will share research findings related to the inequitable landscape of financial services as well as examples of practice and policy solutions."

Panelists Include:

  • Julie Birkenmaier, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Saint Louis University
  • Megan Doherty Bea, Assistant Professor of Consumer Science, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Karen Murrell, Founder, Higher Heights Consulting; Program Manager, Asset Funders Network

Click here to register.

Policy, Pride, and Possibility: Queer and Disabled Voices in Advocacy
Presented by Garden State Equality and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University—New Brunswick
Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Virtual and in-person at:
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
33 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ
"Explore the unique challenges faced by people living at the intersection of queerness and disability and learn how to advocate for inclusive policies that address the needs their overlapping needs in this unique panel discussion."

Click here to register.

Policy Focus: Education
Last week, we discussed how Project 2025 would impact the future of the Environmental Protection Agency, climate policy and the environment.

This week we'll examine how Project 2025 would impact the Department of Education, ... and ...

1. The Department of Education (ED)
ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. ED's 4,400 employees and $68 billion budget are dedicated to establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds, collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research, focusing national attention on key educational issues, and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.

  • Project 2025 Core Principles (pg. 322):
    • Advancing education freedom. Empowering families to choose among a diverse set of education options...For example, portability of existing federal education spending to fund families directly or allowing federal tax credits to encourage voluntary contributions to K–12 education savings accounts managed by charitable nonprofits, could significantly advance education choice.
    • Restoring state and local control over education funding...existing funding should be sent to states as grants over which they have full control, enabling states to put federal funding toward any lawful education purpose under state law.
    • Treating taxpayers like investors in federal student aid...When the federal government lends money to individuals for a postsecondary education, taxpayers should expect those borrowers to repay.
    • Protecting the federal student loan portfolio from predatory politicians...The new Administration must end abuses in the loan forgiveness programs. Borrowers should be expected to repay their loans.
    • "Safeguarding" civil rights. Enforcement of civil rights should be based on a proper understanding of those laws, rejecting gender ideology and critical race theory.
  • "...Completely reverse the student loan federalization of 2010 and work with Congress to spin off FSA and its student loan obligations to a new government corporation with professional governance and management," (pg. 327).
  • "...the next President should sign a Department of Education Reorganization Act," (pg. 330).
  • "...thoroughly review the many education-related regulations promulgated by the Biden Administration, as well as the school meals program and the Income-Driven student loan program," (pg. 331).
  • "...take immediate steps to rescind the new requirements and lessen the federal restrictions on charter schools," (pg. 331).

1a. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE):

  • "Transfer Title I, Part A, which provides federal funding for lower income school districts, to the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the Administration for Children and Families. It should be administered as a no-strings-attached formula block grant," (pg. 325).
  • "Restore revenue responsibility for Title I funding to the states over a 10-year period," (pg. 326).
  • "Eliminate Impact Aid not tied to students. Move student-driven Impact Aid programs to the Department of Defense Education Authority (DoDEA) or the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education," (pg. 326).
  • "All other programs...should be block-granted or eliminated," (pg. 326).

1b. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS):

  • "Most Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding should be converted into a no-strings formula block grant" (pg. 326).
  • "Phase out earmarks for a variety of special institutions, as originally envisioned," (pg. 326).
  • "Effective January 18, 2017, the department issued final regulations under Part B of IDEA that require states to consider race and ethnicity in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities. The new Administration should rescind this regulation," (pg. 336).
  • "...immediately commence rulemaking to rescind the Equity in IDEA regulation," (pg. 336).

1c. Office for Postsecondary Education (OPE):

  • "...eliminate or move OPE programs to the Employment & Training Administration at the Department of Labor" (pg. 326).
  • "Funding to institutions should be block-granted and narrowed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and tribally controlled colleges," (pg. 326).

2. Civil Rights & Title IX
Title IX states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

  • "...quickly move to rescind [Office of Civil Rights' (OCR)] Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)] changes, which add a new “nonbinary” sex category to OCR’S data collection and issue a new CRDC that will collect data directly relevant to OCR’s statutory enforcement authority.," (pg. 332).
  • "...rescind [the July 1, 2023...regulations addressing loan forgiveness under the HEA’s provisions for borrower defense to repayment (“BDR”), closed school loan discharge (“CSLD”), and public service loan forgiveness (“PSLF”)]" (pg. 332).
  • "...rescind Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN 22-11 and DCL GEN 22-10 and its letters to accreditation agencies dated July 19, 2022, which are attempts to undercut Florida’s SB 7044, providing universities more flexibility on accreditation," (pg. 332).
  • "...prohibit the department from using any appropriations or from otherwise enforcing any final regulations under Title IX promulgated by the department during the prior Administration.," (pg. 333).
  • "...rescind the current Administration’s Title IX regulations; restore the Title IX regulations promulgated by then-Secretary Betsy DeVos on May 19, 2020; and define “sex” under Title IX to mean only biological sex recognized at birth" (pg. 333).
  • "...amend Title IX to include due process requirements; define “sex” under Title IX to mean only biological sex recognized at birth; and strengthen protections for faith-based educational institutions, programs, and activities," (pg. 333).
  • "...abandon [the] change redefining “sex” to mean “sexual orientation and gender identity” in Title IX immediately across all departments," (pg. 334).
  • "...restore the Trump Administration’s Title IX regulation, with the additional insistence that “sex” is properly understood as a fixed biological fact," (pg. 334).
  • "...political appointees in the Office for Civil Rights should begin a full review of all Title IX investigations that were conducted on the understanding that “sex” referred to gender identity and/or sexual orientation," (pg. 334).
  • "All ongoing investigations should be dropped, and all school districts affected should be given notice that they are free to drop any policy changes pursued under pressure from the Biden Administration," (pg. 334).
  • "The {Office of Civil Rights] Assistant Secretary should prepare a report of OCR’s actions for the new Secretary of Education, who should—by speech or letter— publicize the nature of the overreach engaged in by his predecessor," (pg. 334).
  • "...prohibit the USDA or any other federal agency from withholding services from federal or state agencies—including but not limited to K–12 schools—that choose not to replace “sex” with [sexual orientation/gender identity], “SOGI” in that agency’s administration of Title IX," (pg. 337).

3. Title VI—School Discipline and Disparate Impact
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance.

  • "...conduct a comprehensive review of all Title VI cases to ascertain to what extent these cases include allegations of disparate impact," (pg. 335).
  • "...direct the department and DOJ jointly to issue enforcement guidance stating that the agencies will no longer investigate Title VI cases that exclusively rest on allegations of disparate impact." (pg. 335).
  • "...rescind the guidance and commence rulemaking to rescind [any regulations set by the Biden Administration]," (pg. 335).
  • "...the next Secretary should work with the next Attorney General on a regulation that would clarify current regulations to state that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act does not include a disparate impact standard," (pg. 335).
  • "...take sweeping action to assure that the purpose of the Civil Rights Act is not inverted through a disparate impact standard to provide a pretext for theoretically endless federal meddling.," (pg. 335).

4. Student Loans & Financing

  • "...end the prior Administration’s abuse of the agency’s payment pause and [Higher Education Act] HEA loan forgiveness programs, including borrower defense to repayment, closed school discharge, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness," (pg. 340).
  • "...rescind or substantially modify the prior Administration’s HEA regulations," (pg. 340).
  • "...consider returning to a system in which private lenders, backed by government guarantees, would compete to offer student loans, including subsidized and unsubsidized, loans," (pg. 340).
  • "Consolidate all federal loan programs into one new program that:
    • Utilizes income-driven repayment,
    • Includes no interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness,
    • Includes annual and aggregate limits on borrowing, and
    • Requires “skin in the game” from colleges to help hold them accountable for loan repayment," (pg. 341).

5. Censorship & Critical Race Theory

  • "...lawmakers should design legislation that prevents [critical race theory] from spreading discrimination.," (pg. 343).
  • "...school officials should not require students or teachers to believe that individuals are guilty or responsible for the actions of others based on race or ethnicity.," (pg. 343).
  • "...support existing state and federal civil rights laws and add to such laws a prohibition on compelled speech.," (pg. 343).
  • "...take particular note of how radical gender ideology is having a devastating effect on school-aged children today—especially young girls," (pg. 346).
  • "No public education employee or contractor shall:
    • use a name to address a student other than the name listed on a student’s birth certificate, without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians, or
    • use a pronoun in addressing a student that is different from that student’s biological sex without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians," (pg. 346).
  • "No public institution may require an education employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match a person’s biological sex if contrary to the employee’s or contractor’s religious or moral convictions,"  (pg. 346).

As of the posting of this newsletter, there are only 11 days left until the election on November 5th. Before voting (which we hope you do!), take time to learn about the policies most important to each candidate and how they may impact you as a social worker, and your clients around the country. We will keep you informed on the stances of each candidate as we approach the election.

Please email us to provide any comments, ask questions, and provide information you would like to see in the newsletter!

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