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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families
August 2000
Federal Child Welfare Programs
The Children's Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services funds a number of programs that focus on preventing abuse of children in troubled families, protecting children from abuse, and finding permanent placements for those who cannot safely return to their homes.
Statistics
An estimateed 826,000 children were victims of substantiated child abuse and neglect in 1999, the most recent year as reported to HHS by State Child Protection Services agencies. In 1999, an estimated 1,100 children died of abuse and neglect. Maltreated children are found in all income, racial, and ethnic groups, and incidence rates are similar in urban, suburban, and rural communities. About half are cases of neglect, a quarter physical abuse, and about one in seven sexual abuse.
Based on a congressionally-mandated survey conducted about every seven years, the third and latest 1995 report on the National Incidence Study (NIS) on Child Abuse and Neglect, which surveys both state reports and child professionals, found that as many as 2.8 million children were at risk for abuse and neglect in 1993, double the number of children in the previous study in 1988. The study also reported that a half a million children were seriously injured, quadruple the incidences from 1988. Additional analyses of the 1993 NIS research are currently underway to identify factors related to cases of serious maltreatment.
There were 588,000 children in foster care in March 2000, up from 414,000 in 1991. Most of these children will return to their homes, but 134,000 cannot return safely. Many of these children are considered to have "special needs" because they are older, members of minority or sibling groups, or physically, mentally or emotionally disabled. They often need special assistance in finding adoptive homes. In FY 2000, an average of 200,000 children received Title IV-E adoption assistance, which is a subsidy to families who adopt special needs children.
Foster Care/Adoption Assistance/Independent Living
For those children who cannot remain safely in their homes, foster care provides a stable environment that assures a child's safety and well-being while their parents attempt to resolve the problems that led to the out of home placement. When the family cannot be reunified, foster care provides a stable environment until the child can be placed permanently with an adoptive family. Authorized under title IV-E of the Social Security Act, Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs provide Federal matching funds of 50 to 80 percent, depending on the state's per capita income, to states which directly administer the programs. Under Foster Care, funds are available for monthly payments to foster care providers on behalf of foster children. These payments vary from state to state.
Under Adoption Assistance, funds are available for a one-time payment for the costs of adopting a child as well as for monthly subsidies to adoptive families for care of the child (who is eligible for welfare under the former AFDC program or for Supplemental Security Income). Similar to Foster Care, the amounts vary from state to state. Additionally, funds received under Foster Care and Adoption Assistance are used by states to assist with agency administrative costs. Administrative costs include child placement and case management activities; training for staff, foster parents, and adoptive parents; foster and adoptive parent recruitment; and other relevant expenses.
Assistance is also available to current or former foster care youths age 16 and older to help in the transition to independent living. The Independent Living program provides grants to states for education and employment assistance, training in daily living skills, and individual and group counseling.
In December 1999, "The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999" was signed into law. This legislation helps ensure that young people who leave foster care get the tools they need to make the most of their lives. It empowers them by providing better educational opportunities, access to health care, training, housing assistance, counseling and other services.
The Act authorizes $700 million over five years to help young people who leave foster care transition to independence. The Act doubles the annual funding for the Independent Living program, and invests $350 million more over five years in these services. Under the legislation, states are required to serve youth up to 21 years old, enabling more young people to obtain a college education. It also enables states to provide time-limited financial assistance to help these youth with living expenses as they develop the skills and education needed to move successfully into the workforce. In addition, the new law gives states the option to let these young people remain eligible for Medicaid up to age 21.
In FY 2001, funding for foster care is $5.1 billion, $1.2 billion for adoption assistance and $140 million for Independent Living.
Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Family Preservation and Family Support Services grants focus on strengthening families, preventing abuse, and protecting children. These grants help state child welfare agencies and Indian tribes operate preventive family preservation services and community-based family support services for families at risk or in crisis.
Family Support Services, often provided at the local level by community-based organizations, are voluntary, preventive activities to help families nurture their children. These services are designed to alleviate stress and help parents care for their children's well-being before a crisis occurs. They connect families with available community resources and supportive networks which assist parents with child rearing. Family support activities include respite care for parents and caregivers, early developmental screening of children to identify their needs, tutoring, health education for youth, and a range of center-based activities.
Family Preservation Services typically are activities that help families alleviate crises that might lead to out-of-home placements of children. They help to maintain the safety of children in their own homes, support families preparing to reunify or adopt, and assist families in obtaining other services to meet multiple needs.
Funding for Family Preservation and Family Support Services is $305 million in FY 2001.
Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
The Child Abuse and Neglect program funds states and grantees in several different programs authorized by the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The programs seek to assist states to meet their responsibilities for the prevention and intervention in cases of child abuse and neglect by providing funds and technical assistance; generate knowledge by funding research, service improvement programs, and demonstration projects; generate knowledge through the ongoing collection of data about the scope and nature of the problem, its consequences, and the effectiveness of prevention and treatment services; facilitate information dissemination and exchange; and support policy development and the education of professionals in the field.
Community-based Family Resource and Support Grants fund statewide networks of local child abuse and neglect prevention and family resource programs. To receive these funds, states must have in place a trust fund or other funding mechanism that pools Federal, state, and private funds and makes them available for child abuse and neglect prevention and family resource programs. Funding is $32.8 million in FY 2001.
Basic State Grants provide assistance in developing, strengthening, and implementing child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs. Funding is $21 million in FY 2001.
Federal funds also support research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. These demonstration programs identify the best means of preventing maltreatment and treating troubled families. Funding is $33.7 million in FY 2001.
Child Welfare
The Child Welfare Services program provides grants to states and Indian tribes under title IV-B of the Social Security Act. Services are available to children and their families without regard to income. Publicly funded Child Welfare Services are directed toward the goal of keeping families together. They include preventive intervention so that, if possible, children will not have to be removed from their homes. If this is not possible, placements and permanent homes through foster care or adoption can be made. In addition, reunification services are available to encourage the return home, when appropriate, of children who have been removed from their families.
Each state receives a base amount of $70,000. Additional funds are distributed in proportion to the state's population of children under age 21 multiplied by the complement of the state's average per capita income. The state match requirement is 25 percent. Funding is $292 million in FY 2001.
HHS/ACF has other programs that address the welfare of children at risk. The Adoption Opportunities program eliminates barriers to adoption and helps to find permanent homes for children who would benefit by adoption, particularly those with special needs. Grants and contracts are awarded to public and private non-profit agencies. Funding is $27 million in FY 2001.
The Abandoned Infants Assistance program provides grants to help identify ways to prevent the abandonment of children in hospitals and to identify and address the needs of infants and young children, particularly those with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and prenatal drug or alcohol exposure. Funding is $12 million in FY 2001.
Special Initiatives
Adoption To reduce the number of children presently in foster care, the "Adoption 2002" initiative was launched to reduce barriers to adoption and double the number of children adopted or permanently placed each year, from 27,000 in 1996 to 54,000 in 2002.
Adoption 2002 is based on a set of principles that declare that every child deserves a safe, permanent family; that the child's health and safety should be the paramount considerations in all placement and permanency planning decisions; and that foster care is a temporary solution and not an appropriate place for children to grow up. Adoption 2002 establishes unequivocally that the Federal goals for children in the child welfare system are safety, permanency, and well-being.
By offering financial incentives and technical assistance to states, courts, and communities, the federal government will help states meet the adoption targets. In FY 2001, funding is $43 million.
Efforts are also being made to break down racial and ethnic barriers to adoption: through the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption provisions of 1996, which prohibit adoption agencies from denying or delaying placement of a waiting child based on race, color, or national origin.
Better Outcomes for Children
In January 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services announced child welfare regulations that will improve outcomes for abused and neglected children, children in foster care, and children awaiting adoption. The regulations hold states accountable for services to at-risk children with a results-oriented approach in federal monitoring of state child welfare programs.
Under the regulation, states are assessed for compliance with federal requirements for child protective services, foster care, adoption and family preservation and support services under titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Those services cover the investigations of families where children are at-risk, placements and supervision of children in foster care, development of child permanency plans for court hearings, reunification with birth families, when safe, and adoption.
The reviews cover two areas: outcomes for children and families in terms of safety, permanency and child and family well-being; and the administration of state programs that directly affect the capacity to deliver services leading to improved outcomes. Federal staff work with states in making improvements in programs before assessing penalties and withholding funds. If a state remains in noncompliance, a financial penalty will be assessed.
State Child Welfare Reform
Under authority from Congress, in each of the five Fiscal Years 1998 - 2002, HHS can approve child welfare reform demonstrations for up to 10 states a year. These demonstrations test innovative new ways to strengthen the child welfare system. To date, 23 states and the District of Columbia have been approved (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia). The states will be expanding the array and improving the quality of child welfare services currently available. Assisted guardianship/kinship permanence, managed care/capitated payment systems, the flexible use of Federal funds at the community level, intensive service options, substance abuse services, and tribal administration of IV-E funds are among the innovations being examined.
This document is not necessarily endorsed by the Almanac of Policy Issues. It is being preserved in the Policy Archive for historic reasons.