u.s. department of health and human services

When foster care kids are sex trafficked, some states fail to figure it out

BY: - November 23, 2023

For help, call 1-888-373-7888 or text *233733 for the 24/7 National Human Trafficking Hotline, a national, toll-free hotline. When she was a 10-year-old foster child, Withelma “T” Ortiz often rode a public bus around the San Francisco Bay area, alone. She’d frequent a bus stop by a barber shop. Little by little, the barber, who […]

Next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and therapies gets a $1.4 billion boost

BY: - August 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a $1.4 billion investment in developing the so-called next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell made the announcement, saying the funding is part of the $5 billion program they hope will […]

U.S. House Republicans spar with HHS secretary over transgender youth, child labor

BY: - June 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday defended access to health care for transgender people, as well as his agency’s actions in connection with unaccompanied migrant children. Republicans at a U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing grilled Becerra about gender-affirming care for transgender minors, including puberty […]