{
  "id": "RL32849",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32849",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305231,
      "date": "2005-04-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:47:50.649029",
      "title": "Child Welfare Financing: An Issue Overview",
      "summary": "Child welfare programs are designed to protect children from abuse or neglect. Services may be\noffered to stabilize and strengthen a child\u2019s own home. If this is not a safe option for the\nchild,\nhowever, he or she may be placed in foster care while efforts to improve the home are made. In\nthose instances where reuniting the child with his or her parents is found to be impossible, a child\nwelfare agency must seek a new permanent (often adoptive) home for the child.\n \n In FY2003, the most recent year for which complete data are available, the federal government\nprovided states with some $6.9 billion in funding dedicated to child welfare purposes. Most of this\nfunding is authorized under Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. Apart from these\n dedicated  federal child welfare funds, however, states also use  non-dedicated  federal\nfunds--including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, Medicaid, and\nthe Social Services Block Grant--to meet child welfare needs. The most recent data available (for\nstate fiscal year 2002) suggests that states spent at least $4.8 billion in non-dedicated funds for child\nwelfare purposes. While non-dedicated funding streams have increased resources to child welfare\nagencies, current legislative and administrative proposals may jeopardize their continued use for\nchild welfare.\n \n The way that the federal government distributes dedicated child welfare money to states has\nbeen criticized as inflexible, out of sync with federal child welfare policy goals, and antiquated. \nBecause most dedicated federal child welfare funding (about 65% in FY2003) may be used only for\nfoster care, critics charge that states have inadequate funds to prevent removal of children from their\nhomes or to allow children to be reunited with their parents. In addition, a state\u2019s ability to\nclaim\nmost of the dedicated child welfare funds is directly related to the number of foster and adoptive\nchildren it assists who meet the income, family structure, and other program rules of the now\ndefunct Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program (as that program existed on July\n16, 1996).\n \n Attention to federal child welfare financing has focused almost exclusively on dedicated child\nwelfare funding streams and is driven in part by the belief that the current structure hampers the\nability of state child welfare agencies to achieve positive outcomes for children. This assumption\nis not easy to prove. However, it is possible to say that the AFDC link, which ties federal funding\nin foster care and adoption assistance to increasingly antiquated income standards, over time, will\nerode the share of program costs for which states may seek federal reimbursement.\n \n Recent proposals to alter how dedicated federal child welfare funds are distributed included\nsome\nthat would link eligibility for federally supported foster care and adoption assistance to TANF\nincome\nrules and others that would remove income restrictions entirely. The latter proposals, which would\ngreatly expand the number of children for whom the federal government would be committed to\nproviding support, have typically sought to cap (or block grant) some or all of what is now\nopen-ended\nfederal funding for foster care and adoption assistance and/or to reduce the share of costs paid for\neach\neligible child by the federal government. This report will not be updated.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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}