Category: State Government Actions

$5 Million Available to Expand Broadband in Unserved and Underserved Communities (May 21, 2021)

Governor Tom Wolf announced that $5 million is available for projects that expand high-speed broadband service infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas through the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Program (UHSB). The application period opens June 1.

“Pennsylvania’s broadband internet access limitations create an unfair playing field, leaving too many counties disadvantaged in the state’s digital divide,” said Gov. Wolf. “The challenging last year only magnified how critical the need for this access is for everyone—for school, for work, and for leisure—and this program marks an important step in the commonwealth’s continued efforts to close that digital divide.”

The UHSB authorizes the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) to award grants to nongovernmental entities which have the technical, managerial, and financial expertise to design, build, and operate a high-speed broadband service infrastructure in unserved areas.

Applications will be accepted from June 1 through September 24, 2021.

UHSB funding supports projects that can offer access to high-speed broadband services that will enhance economic development, education, health care, and emergency services. The program will further expand broadband access through new private sector investments.

The CFA was established in 2004 as an independent agency of the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to administer Pennsylvania’s economic stimulus packages. The CFA holds fiduciary responsibility over the funding of programs and investments in Pennsylvania’s economic growth. Unique among state agencies in structure and scope, the CFA consists of seven Board members: four legislative appointees and the secretaries of DCED, the Office of the Budget, and Department of Banking and Securities.

For more information, visit the DCED website.

DHS Highlights COVID-19 Law Giving Older Youth Option to Re-Enter Foster Care, Access Aftercare Services (May 19, 2021)

On May 19, 2021 the PA Department of Human Services (DHS) Acting Secretary Meg Snead marked National Foster Care Month by encouraging older youth previously served through the foster care system to contact their county child welfare agency for help accessing aftercare services, including an option for some youth to re-enter foster care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 included a provision called the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act that allows youth who left foster care due to age during the COVID-19 public health emergency to voluntarily re-enter foster care until September 30, 2021 regardless of current age. The law also provides additional funding and temporary program flexibilities to address the critical financial needs of youth who are or were formerly in foster care.

“Because many of these young people, once discharged from foster care, lack access to stable housing, income, and other resources that may be available to youth/young adults with more family or kinship supports, the funding and flexibilities provided are critical to ensuring youth are protected and supported,” Acting Secretary Snead said. “Without support, there is a very real risk that youth who have left the foster care system will become homeless or experience other negative outcomes.”

Research shows that youth who age out or leave foster care without a permanent family and permanent meaningful connections experience worse outcomes than that of their peers in the general population. Former foster youth are disproportionately represented among young adults experiencing homelessness and unemployment and those entering mental health and substance use disorder and criminal justice systems.

In addition to temporarily re-opening foster care to youth who exited due to age during the public-health emergency, the Consolidated Appropriations Act extended eligibility for aftercare services and Education and Training Grants through age 26, as well as waived some eligibility criteria for former foster youth. This will also expire on September 30, 2021. More information is available online through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Acting Secretary Snead also encouraged Pennsylvanians to consider opening their hearts and homes to a child in need of temporary foster care, especially older youth.

“We are always in need of more foster parents who can provide a loving home for children. That was true before the pandemic, and it is true now,” Acting Secretary Snead said. “It takes a special type of person to provide stability to children in crisis when their own home has stopped being the right place for them to live, at least for the time being. But that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped needing what all kids need: security, nurturing and guidance. Foster parents step in and provide those protections temporarily.”

The Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN) is administeredby DHS’ Office of Children, Youth, and Families. SWAN is a program dedicated to working on behalf of children in foster care who need permanent homes. The network is a collection of state, county, and private agencies that match children in need of adoption and coordinates permanency-related services for children and post-permanency services to families. Families interested in learning more about becoming a foster or adoptive family should contact the SWAN Helpline toll-free at 1-800-585-7926. More information is available online at www.adoptpakids.org. 

DHS also administers the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Program, which originated in the 1980s to address the needs of children who arrived in the U.S. from Southeast Asia, due tothe Vietnam conflict, without a parent or guardian to care for them. The program is part of the state’s Refugee Resettlement Program and serves to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate foster care to unaccompanied refugee youth who are unable to return to their home countries because of past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

All youth in the URM program are carefully screened as refugees eligible for resettlement, and most are between 15 and 17 years old when they are referred for foster care placement. Families and individuals interested in fostering an unaccompanied refugee minor should contact the program at [email protected].

PDE & PDH Clarify Mask Guidelines for PA Schools (May 17, 2021)

On May 16, 2021, an email from Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) Alison Beam and Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Noe Ortega directed PA school districts to continue with the cleaning and masking guidelines that are currently in place, requiring masks in schools for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. In fact, both PDH and PDE continue to recommend that schools follow the guidelines for physical distancing previously outlined.

Since most K-12 students in PA are not vaccinated and only a few weeks remain in the 2020-21 school year, PDE is recommending that schools continue to follow their current mitigation strategies. According to PDE, remaining consistent in approach will help to ensure the safety and well-being of school communities while minimizing disruptions that may result from significant revisions to existing plans. School entities are also reminded that they may implement stricter mitigation strategies than those required by law, guidelines, rules, and regulations.

To learn more from The Express, click here.

To access PDE guidance on its website, click here.

PDH: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Fully Approved for Use in 12- to 15-Year-Olds (May 13, 2021)

On May 13, 2021, the PA Department of Health (PDH) encouraged all COVID-19 vaccine providers to start vaccinating anyone age 12 and over with the Pfizer vaccine as recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices held a meeting today to review the data and make an official recommendation to use the vaccine for this age group. The CDC also said that the Pfizer vaccine could be co-administered with other routine vaccinations.

“Hundreds of vaccine providers in Pennsylvania already have Pfizer vaccine on hand and are ready to safely and efficiently vaccinate people in this age group,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said, noting that the state’s vaccine provider network is expanding each week.

People can find Pfizer vaccination locations near them using Vaccines.gov, also known as Vaccine Finder. Individuals also can text their zip code to GETVAX (438829) for English, or VACUNA (822862) for Spanish and receive three possible vaccination sites in their area, then choose locations based on availability of the Pfizer vaccine.

In Pennsylvania, immunizations, like other general medical services, require consent. The Department of Health recommends that vaccine providers follow their current policy for vaccinations of minors.

“Once all of the approvals are in place, Pennsylvania vaccine providers will be ready to begin vaccinating these young people to add them to the more than 5.7 million Pennsylvanians who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far,” Acting Secretary Beam said.

The eligibility of 12- to 15-year-olds does not change PDH’s criteria for at least 70 percent of Pennsylvania adults to get fully vaccinated for the state’s mask mandate to be lifted. According to the CDC, as of this morning, 46.2 percent of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated. 

Learn more at the CDC’s “COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens” page.

PA Senate Ed. Committee Unanimously Passes SB 664 , Which Would Allow Parents to Have Children Repeat Grade Due to Pandemic (May 12, 2021)

On Monday, May 10, 2021, SB 664 was unanimously passed by the PA Senate Education Committee and sent on to the full Senate. The bill would allow parents/guardians to decide to have their children repeat the 2020-21 school year due to school closings, difficulties with virtual learning, and other COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to the learning process. If the bill becomes law, parents/guardians could have their children repeat the grade they were in during the 2020-21 school year if they think that their children did not learn adequately and/or suffered learning “loss” due to pandemic-related circumstances.

The bill would also allow students in all grades to repeat their current grade and would allow students with intellectual disabilities to remain in school for an extra year, even if they turn 21.

To learn more from The Daily Item click here or view the bill by clicking here.