Category: Government Actions

Rep. Wild Voices Concerns Over Delayed FAFSA Rollout, Asks USDE for Answers (February 18, 2024)

US Representative Susan Wild form Pennsylvania, a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, along with 70 of her colleagues, voiced her concerns on the delayed rollout of this year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In their letter, the members of Congress also requested the US Department of Education (USDE) provide answers to questions raised by families and students across the nation and clarity on the timeline.

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“For many students in our community and across the country, the FAFSA is the first step to make higher education more affordable and accessible,” said Congresswoman Susan Wild. “I’ve heard from families and colleges in the Lehigh Valley about the strain FAFSA delays have already had on them, and I’m deeply concerned that additional delays will negatively impact those most in need of aid. I’m urging the USDE to do everything it can to support our students and institutions of higher education.”

In their letter, the lawmakers write, “We write today to ask for more clarity on how the USDE plans to communicate any further delays in FAFSA processing, and how the USDE intends to minimize the potential impact on students and families so they can make the most informed decision possible about their futures, including through providing prompt, clear timelines.”

Approximately 17 million students fill out the FAFSA each year. As a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was signed into law in 2021, the USDE streamlined the application process and updated formulas used to assess students’ financial need. The USDE estimates that these updates will allow 1.5 million more students from low-income backgrounds to be eligible for the maximum Pell Grant award.

Read the full letter here.

USDE to Ease 2024 FAFSA Verification Requirements (February 14, 2024)

On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced that it will reduce 2024 verification requirements for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to get applications to high school students as soon as possible.

Citing the problematic release of the updated FAFSA form, the temporary changes in procedure are intended to make it easier for colleges to process student records and issue financial aid offers during what has become a much tighter timeline.

Thus, the USDE will require colleges to verify fewer FAFSA applications and has also averred that the majority of income data is obtained from the IRS and does not require verification.

USDE has also stated that it will provide deadline flexibility for colleges that need to re-certify their eligibility for receiving federal financial aid.

Source: K-12 Dive.

PDE Announces More Than $1.6 Million to Make Higher Education More Affordable for Parents (February 13, 2023)

On February 13, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced more than $1.6 million in grant funding to help eligible postsecondary institutions fund scholarships and programming for undergraduate students with children. Making higher education affordable and accessible for Pennsylvanians of all means and all backgrounds is a key priority of Governor Shapiro’s blueprint for higher education.

Postsecondary institutions can apply on eGrants from February 13, 2024 to March 12, 2024.

The 2024 Parent Pathways Grant offers institutions the opportunity to apply for competitive funding:
-To expand parent programming, resources, and supports or to implement parent programming, resources, and supports. Funding can be used, but is not limited to, wrap-around services for students, expansion of childcare facilities, staffing salary support for parent navigators, transportation supports, and other expansion of work already being accomplished on campus. 
-For scholarships covering tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, childcare, etc.
-For the use of stipends/emergency funding up to a maximum amount as determined by the institution.

Studies indicate that one in five undergraduate college students is balancing the responsibilities of raising children while pursuing a postsecondary education, and nearly half of them do not earn a degree. Parenting students bear significant burdens and need additional support to navigate through their academic program successfully, and the Parent Pathways Grant Program provides funding to institutions to directly support the persistence of these students in the form of tuition assistance, emergency funding, and wrap-around services.

In December 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services released a policy report following consultations with parenting students, postsecondary institution staff, subject matter experts, various state agencies, and community leaders. The Parent Pathways Learning Network (PPLN) concentrated on addressing the necessary support for food, childcare, housing, and financial aid. The results underscored the importance of integrating the firsthand experiences of parenting students into statewide policymaking.

During his 2024-25 budget address, Governor Josh Shapiro proposed a blueprint for higher education to re-imagine Pennsylvania’s postsecondary sector and support more learners. After decades of disinvestment that have put postsecondary education out of reach for many Pennsylvanians, this plan will dramatically increase state funding for colleges and universities, unite PASSHE universities and community colleges under a new governance structure, and cap tuition costs for eligible students. The budget proposal invests $975 million in the community colleges and PASSHE universities that will comprise this new system – a 15 percent increase in the amount of funding those institutions received last year – and substantial investments next year to make higher education more affordable and accessible for all.

For more information please visit the PDE website.

DHS Releases Interdisciplinary Blueprint Workgroup Recommendations to Address Children’s Physical and Behavioral Healthcare Needs (February 12, 2024)

On February 12, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) released recommendations from its Blueprint Workgroup, an interdisciplinary group comprised of representation from state and local governments, health care, education, service providers, managed care, and family advocates. The workgroup sought to evaluate challenges children and youth with complex, co-occurring physical and behavioral health care needs and their families experience like accessing care and services that adapt to a youth’s changing circumstances and needs, lessening the likelihood of child welfare system involvement, reducing trauma experienced by instability, prioritizing emotional well-being, and supporting family- and youth-driven care and choice.

One in six children have a diagnosed behavioral or developmental disorder, and rates of depression and anxiety are growing among children and young adults. Youth with co-occurring physical health, behavioral health, and/or intellectual disability or autism-related needs are considered complex cases because they require close coordination between multiple care and service providers in order to ensure the child and their family are receiving comprehensive supports and services that meet their unique and evolving needs.

Care coordination for these cases involve multiple county and state-level entities that coordinate health care, education, and disability services, and, at times, the child and their family may be involved with child welfare, foster care, and justice systems. Children and youth with complex needs are also more likely to have experienced abuse, neglect, and trauma, disruptions to their education, communications challenges, and a complex diagnostic history causing delayed or incorrect services. These circumstances create opportunities for confusion and lack of communication that can affect care. 

Children and youth with complex needs deserve access to the care and supports they need without barriers, delays, or risks of new or additional trauma, and their families and guardians deserve support as they navigate systems of care for their child. The Blueprint Workgroup was established to help guide systems of care towards a renewed focus on youth and family engagement, respect for individual choice, support for the caring workforce, better collaboration and integrated planning between systems that serve youth with complex needs, and timely, accessible, and coordinated service delivery for youth that is responsive to their evolving needs.

Recommendations from the workgroup include:
-Prioritizing prevention through early identification of needs, accurate and timely diagnosis, and prompt service intervention;
-Improving information sharing and resource navigation among child-serving systems of care;
-Developing clear and strong guidance to inform multi-system case planning and management that prioritizes family engagement, evidence-based practices, peer supports between families, streamlining processes for families, and avoids trauma or re-traumatization that can occur when a case information has to be presented by the youth or their family repeatedly;
-Supporting a qualified, dedicated workforce, assessing payment models, and increasing efficiencies for people working in this system where appropriate;
-Conducting a system needs and gaps analysis across child-serving systems to determine opportunities for improvement and establishing multidisciplinary care coordination teams where needed; and,
-Building further understanding of trauma and embed trauma-informed care and principles across systems that serve and interact with children and youth with complex needs and their families.

Moving forward, DHS and Blueprint Workgroup members will begin work to determine work necessary to implement recommendations and identify barriers to implementation at the state and local level. The recommendations outlined in the workgroup’s report are a first step to strengthen supports for children and youth with complex needs and their families. Pennsylvania was also recently selected as one of eight states participating in a children’s behavioral health policy collaborative organized by Health Management Associates, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, the National Association of Medicaid Directors, the Child Welfare League, and the American Public Human Services Association. The convening will build on this work by helping better align multi-system work to support youth with behavioral health needs. 

To learn more about the Blueprint Workgroup and DHS’ work to support children and youth with complex needs, visit https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Children/Pages/Complex-Case-Planning.aspx.

Gov. Shapiro Announces Blueprint for Higher Ed. (February 11, 2024)

After decades of disinvestment that have put postsecondary education out of reach for many Pennsylvanians, Governor Josh Shapiro recently announced his blueprint for higher education—a plan that dramatically increases state funding for colleges and universities, unites them under a new governance structure, and caps tuition costs for eligible students. Gov. Shapiro’s 2024-25 budget proposal invests $975 million in the community colleges and PASSHE universities that will comprise this new system, a 15 percent increase in the amount of funding those institutions received last year.

For the press release, go to https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Education-Details.aspx?newsid=1439.