Social Welfare
U.S. Paid Family Leave Access Remains Uneven, Voluntary
Access to paid family and medical leave in the United States is uneven and largely voluntary on the corporate side, with no federal mandate requiring...
A Congressional Report Examines Housing Affordability
With housing prices at historic highs, Congress is evaluating methods of how to examine affordability in the market and federal subsidies. A new...
FEMA Approves Disaster Aid for Disabled Applicants at Lower Rate
People with disabilities are being approved for federal disaster assistance at a lower rate than survivors without disabilities, according to a new audit of...
Maternal Mortality Reviews Drive Medicaid, Health Equity Changes
State maternal mortality review committees are driving policy changes aimed at preventing pregnancy-related deaths, including expanded postpartum Medicaid...
Federal Review Finds Veterans Dental Eligibility Surged 70%
A recent review of VA dental benefits eligibility found that the number of veterans who qualify for dental care through the Department of Veterans Affairs...
Coordination Gaps in Disability Programs Leave Service Gaps
A new federal review finds that bureaucratic friction between two major funding programs is creating gaps in disability employment services for some of the...
Lack of Awareness Plagues Reporting on Federal Building Barriers
Tens of millions of Americans with disabilities who visit or work in federal office buildings may not know they have a legal right to file accessibility...
GAO Finds Gaps in Federal Contraceptive Coverage Compliance
A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on contraceptive coverage compliance found that federal oversight has identified noncompliance...
VA Moves Slowly on Pacific Veterans' Health Care
Veterans from three Pacific nations who served in the U.S. military are struggling to access the health care benefits they earned, and a new Government...
Official poverty rate falls to 10.2%, SPM flat at 13.1%
The United States official poverty rate fell to 10.2 percent in 2025, down from 10.7 percent the prior year, according to a Congressional Research Service...
Federal Retirement Claims Backlog Peaks at 65,237 in 2026
Federal retirement processing has deteriorated sharply in 2026, with a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report documenting a backlog crisis that...
House Panel Examines Fraud Claims in Homelessness Programs
The Trump administration is systematically dismantling the federal approach to homelessness, and a House subcommittee hearing on September 15 provided the...
GAO Finds Gaps in TRICARE Care for Special-Needs Families
Military families with special-needs dependents may face challenges accessing services through the TRICARE Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) program,...
Everything You Need to Know About the Earned Income Tax Credit
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report updated September 14 explains the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and who receives it.
CRS Guide to Health Insurance Exchange Enrollment Data Sources
Health insurance exchange enrollment data sources differ in timing, coverage and definition. A new Congressional Research Services report says exchanges,...
USDA Section 32 Funds Farm Support, Child Nutrition Programs
USDA Section 32 channels customs receipts into agricultural support and child nutrition, putting the program’s statutory design alongside an unsettled...
Housing Trust Fund Faces Funding Limits Despite Strong Results
A persistent shortage of affordable rental housing for the nation's poorest households is the central tension underlying a Congressional Research Service...
Medicare and Medicaid Remain Central to U.S. Nursing Home Care
Medicaid and Medicare play outsized roles in funding and access to nursing home care in the United States. As of July, 14,693 long-term care facilities with...