Order Code RS22178
Updated November 29, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Child Welfare: Program Reauthorizations and
Recent and FY2006 Proposed Funding Levels
Emilie Stoltzfus
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Summary
Most of the final FY2006 funding levels for child welfare programs remain
undetermined. In the interim, funding is available under the continuing resolution
(H.J.Res. 72) through December 17, 2005. Most child welfare programs receive funding
through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and their proposed
FY2006 funding is included in H.R. 3010. On November 17, 2005, the House rejected
the conference agreement (H.Rept. 109-300) on this bill. A few child welfare programs
receive funding through the Department of Justice, and the FY2006 funding for those
programs is included in P.L. 109-108, which was signed by the President on November
22, 2005. (See
Table 1.) Funding authorization for several small child welfare grant
programs (Adoption Awareness, Children’s Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special
Advocates, and Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners) expired with FY2005.
No reauthorization language has been introduced for most of these programs.
Nonetheless, the final or pending appropriations language includes FY2006 funding for
these expired programs. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families program (Title IV-B,
Subpart 2 of the Social Security Act) will expire with FY2006, and Congress may act
to reauthorize this program later in the 109th Congress. This report will be updated.
Federal Child Welfare Programs
Child welfare services are intended to protect children from abuse and neglect and
to ensure their well-being. In FY2005 the federal government appropriated $7.8 billion
for these purposes. Most of this funding is made available to states through open-ended
entitlement programs or as formula grants and is authorized under Title IV-E and Title
IV-B of the Social Security Act or under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
(CAPTA). Additional funds are authorized primarily as competitive grants to eligible
applicants (e.g., local governments, and national or community-based service
organizations). A brief description of these programs is included in
Table 1 below.
Most dedicated federal child welfare funding is administered by the Children’s
Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and funding for these programs is
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provided through the annual appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Education, which has not yet been finalized for FY2006. FY2006
funding levels included in the conference agreement on H.R. 3010 (H.Rept. 109-300)
were rejected by the House on November 17, 2005; one day later the Senate appointed
conferees for a new conference on this legislation; however, it is not clear whether the bill
will return to conference. Separately, funding for programs authorized by the Victims of
Child Abuse Act is administered by the Office of Justice Programs within the Department
of Justice. FY2006 funding legislation for the Department of Justice (as included in
H.Rept. 109-272) was signed by the President on November 22, 2005 (P.L. 109-108).
The table at the end of this report shows pending or approved appropriations levels
for child welfare programs in FY2006. With a few exceptions, the FY2006 discretionary
appropriation levels that have been approved, or are under consideration by Congress,
would fund child welfare programs at the same level of funding appropriated in FY2005.
However, as rejected by the House, the conference agreement on H.R. 3010 (H.Rept. 109-
300) would have reduced funding for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program
to $395 million (from $404 million in FY2005), and for Discretionary Grants under the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to $26.0 million (from $31.6
million in FY2005). That conference agreement would also have reduced funding of
Adoption Incentives to $18 million (from $31.5 million in FY2005), and would have
rescinded an additional $22.5 million in Adoption Incentives funding that was previously
appropriated but which was not needed to make incentive payments to states in FY2005.
Separately, P.L. 109-108 returns the funding for Training of Judicial Practitioners and
Personnel to its FY2004 funding level of $2.3 million (compared to FY2005 funding of
$1.9 million). However, this amount is significantly lower than funding levels in both the
House and Senate versions of H.R. 2862. (See
Table 1.)
The final funding levels of many child welfare programs are determined through the
discretionary appropriations process. However, funding for the largest child welfare
programs is
mandatory or direct. Further most of this
mandatory child welfare spending
is provided via open-ended entitlement — meaning that a state may seek federal
reimbursement of
eligible child welfare costs incurred on behalf of each
eligible child.
The Administration has sought several changes that would affect the eligibility of some
children for federal foster care and adoption assistance (under Title IV-E of the Social
Security Act), and separately would affect what are eligible claims under the federal foster
care program. None of these requested changes is reflected in the budget authority for the
federal foster care and adoption assistance program recommended (by the House or
Senate) under H.R. 3010. However, some of these proposals have been incorporated into
the House Budget reconciliation bill (H.R. 4241). These proposals would change the
statutory language that describes eligible costs and eligible claims under Title IV-E of the
Social Security Act. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that these
proposals would reduce federal spending under Title IV-E by a total of $577 million over
five years (FY2006-FY2010) and $1.3 billion over 10 years (FY2006-FY2015). Changes
to Medicaid’s targeted case management services, proposed in both the House (H.R.
4241) and Senate (S. 1932) reconciliation bills, are also expected to affect child welfare
agencies’ spending. (For more information on these and other child welfare-related
proposals, see CRS Report RL33155,
Child Welfare: Foster Care and Adoption
Assistance Provisions in the Budget Reconciliation Bills, by Emilie Stoltzfus.)
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Jurisdiction and Reauthorization of Child Welfare Programs
The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have
exercised jurisdiction over the majority of federal child welfare programs, including all
of the programs authorized under the Social Security Act. Nearly all of these Social
Security Act programs have an “indefinite” authorization. This means funding for the
program continues to be authorized without periodic reconsideration (reauthorization) by
Congress. However, funding authorization for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Program (Title IV-B, Subpart 2 of the Social Security Act) — which provides funds to
states for family preservation, family support, time-limited reunification and adoption
promotion and support services — is set to expire with FY2006; Congress may act in the
109th Congress to renew this program. Only one additional dedicated child welfare
funding stream authorized under the Social Security Act includes a definite expiration of
funding authority: that is Adoption Incentives, which provides bonus funds to states that
increase the number of children adopted out of public foster care. In 2003 (P.L. 108-145),
Congress reauthorized funding for Adoption Incentives through FY2008.
Smaller programs for which funding authorization expired with FY2005 include two
competitive grant programs that were first established by the Children’s Health Act of
2000 (P.L. 106-310). These are Infant Adoption Awareness and Special Needs Adoption
Awareness. The Children’s Health Act was handled by the House Energy and Commerce
Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Legislation to reauthorize these programs has not been introduced in this Congress;
however, pending FY2006 appropriations proposals would continue to fund them.
Separately, three competitive grant programs authorized by the Victims of Child
Abuse Act of 1990 (Title II of P.L. 101-647) expired with FY2005. These are: 1)
Children’s Advocacy Centers (and related training and technical assistance); 2) Court
Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs); and 3) Training for Judicial Practitioners and
Personnel (who handle child abuse and neglect cases). Legislation establishing and
reauthorizing these programs has primarily been handled by the Senate and House
Judiciary Committees.
In the Senate, two bills (S. 1679, introduced; S. 1197, as passed by the Senate)
would reauthorize funding of CASA at $17 million for each of FY2006 to FY2010. As
of November 29, no legislation has been introduced in the House to reauthorize CASA.
In addition, there has been no legislation introduced in either the House or the Senate to
reauthorize funding of the Children’s Advocacy Centers or Training for Judicial
Personnel and Practitioners (related to handling child abuse cases). However, H.R. 3402,
as passed by the House, and S. 1086, as reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee,
would reauthorize (FY2006-FY2010) and expand funding (from $5 million to $7.5
million annually) for specialized training and technical assistance related to the purposes
of Children’s Advocacy Centers. (For more information, see CRS Report RL32976,
Child Welfare: Programs Authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, by
Emilie Stoltzfus.)
Finally, the House Education and Workforce and Senate HELP Committees have
exercised jurisdiction over the CAPTA, including program authority for Children’s
Justice Act grants, and the Adoption Opportunities and Abandoned Infants Assistance
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acts. Each of the programs authorized by these acts was recently reauthorized (through
FY2008) by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-36).
Recent and Proposed Funding
Table 1 briefly describes the purpose of each listed federal child welfare program,
as well as how funds are distributed and to whom, along with their recent and FY2006
proposed funding.
Table 1. Final FY2004 and FY2005 Funding Levels
and Proposed (or Final) FY2006 Funding Levels
for Federally Supported Child Welfare Programs
( $ in millions)
Final
Proposed
Funding
FY2006 funding
Program
2004a 2005a
Pres.
House Senate Conference
request
Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services
(rejected)
Title IV-B of the Social Security Act
Child Welfare Services
Formula grants to states to improve public
child welfare services, including services to
289
290
290
290
290
290
prevent removal of children, find foster or
adoptive homes for children, and offer
appropriate services to reunite families.
Child Welfare Training
Competitive grants to private non-profit
institutions of higher education to develop
7.4
7.4
7.4
7.4
7.4
7.4
and improve education and training
programs for child welfare workers.
Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Formula grants to states to provide four
kinds of services: family preservation,
404
404
410
404
395
395
family support, time-limited reunification,
and adoption promotion and support.
Title IV-E of the Social Security Act
Foster Careb
Federal share of state claims
Opened-ended reimbursement of eligible
4,524
not available
state claims associated with maintaining
Budget authorityc
children in foster care and for related
administrative and training costs.
4,974 4,896
4,643
4,685
4,685
4,685
Adoption Assistanceb
Federal share of state claims
Opened-ended reimbursement of eligible
1,561
not available
state claims associated with providing
subsidies to special needs children and for
Budget authorityc
related administrative and training costs.
1,700 1,770
1,797
1,795 1,795
1,795
Adoption Incentives
Bonus funds to states that increase the
7.5d
31.5
31.8
31.8
22.8
18.0
number of foster children adopted.
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Final
Proposed
Funding
FY2006 funding
Program
2004a 2005a
Pres.
House Senate Conference
request
Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services
(rejected)
Foster Care Independence
Formula grants to states for provision of
independent living services to youth who
140
140
140
140
140
140
are in foster care and are expected to “age
out” of care and to meet needs of former
foster youth who have aged out of care.
Education and Training Vouchers
Formula grants to states to provide
44.7
46.6
60.0
50.0
46.6
46.6
education and training vouchers to youth
who have aged out of foster care.
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)
CAPTA - subtotal
89.5 101.8
101.8
101.8
101.8
96.2
Basic State Grants
Formula grants to states to improve their
21.9
27.3
27.3
27.3
27.3
27.3
child protection services.
Discretionary Activities
Competitive grants for research and
34.4
31.6
31.6
31.6
31.6
26.0e
demonstration programs related to
preventing or treating child maltreatment.
Community-Based Grants for the
Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Formula grants to lead entity in each state
33.2
42.9
42.9
42.9
42.9
42.9
for sub grants that support community-
based services designed to prevent child
abuse and neglect.
Children’s Health Act
Adoption Awareness subtotal
12.8
12.8
12.8
12.8
12.8
12.8
Infant Adoption Awareness
Competitive grants to support training of
designated staff in non-profit health centers
9.8
9.8
9.8
9.8
9.8
9.8f
that provide services to pregnant women to
inform them about adoptions.
Special Needs Adoption Awareness
Competitive grants for planning,
development, and carrying out a national
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0f
campaign to inform the public about
adoption of children with special needs.
Other programs
Abandoned Infants Assistance
Competitive grants to prevent abandonment
of infants exposed to HIV/AIDS or drugs
12.1
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
12.0
and for a range of services and programs to
address needs of abandoned children.
Adoption Opportunities
Competitive grants to eliminate barriers to
27.2
27.1
27.1
27.1
27.1
27.1
adoptions, especially to the adoption of
children with special needs.
Children’s Justice Act Grantsg
Formula grant to states to improve the
20.0
20.0
not applicable
handling, investigation and prosecution of
child abuse and neglect cases.
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Final
Proposed
Funding
FY2006 funding
Program
2004a 2005a
Pres.
House Senate Conference
request
Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services
(rejected)
Funded through Department of Justice
P.L. 109-
108
Victims of Child Abuse Acth
Children’s Advocacy Centers
Competitive grants to provide services to
child victims of abuse (and to their non-
offending family members), to coordinate
13.0
15.0
11.8
15.0
15.0 15.0
child abuse investigations in ways that
reduce their trauma, and to provide for
related training and technical assistance.
Court Appointed Special Advocates
Competitive grants to ensure proper
11.6
11.7
11.8
11.9
11.8
11.9
advocacy for children who are the victims
in child abuse and neglect cases.
Training for Judicial Practitioners and
Personnel
2.3
1.9
2.3
3.9 5.3
2.3
Competitive grant to improve court
handling of child abuse and neglect cases
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on H.R. 3010, H.R. 2862, their accompanying
conference reports (H.Rept. 109-300 and H.Rept. 109-272) and Administration budget justifications.
a. Except for the programs authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse Act, the FY2004 numbers reflect
a 0.59% funding reduction approved as part of the final funding law (P.L. 108-199), and the FY2005
numbers in this column reflect an across-the-board 0.80% reduction. These reductions were
applicable to all of the discretionary funds in this table. (See table note h.)
b. Federal Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs are funded on an “open-ended” basis; there is
no annual cap on the funding. The amount of “budget authority” proposed by the President and
included in the appropriations is an estimate of what the program will need. By contrast, the “federal
share of state claims” is a proxy of the amount of actual funds used in the given fiscal year. The most
recent claims data available are for FY2004.
c. The difference between the FY2006 President’s request for budget authority shown and the
recommended FY2006 budget authority approved in the House and Senate is likely the result of
differing assumptions about legislative changes. The President’s budget request assumed certain costs
and savings from its proposed legislative changes, but neither the House nor the Senate assumed these
would be enacted.
d. P.L. 108-199 included language to ensure the availability of unused FY2003 adoption incentive funding
(totaling approximately $27.5 million) for FY2004.
e. At least since FY2001, funds appropriated under this account have been subject to numerous
Congressional earmarks. For FY2006, the House-rejected conference agreement (H.Rept. 109-300)
did not include any earmarks on this account.
f. The conference agreement specifies a total of $12.0 million for Adoption Awareness but does not further
state how the funds should be divided.
g. Program authority for these grants is now included in CAPTA. However, these grants are not funded
out of the general treasury. Instead, P.L. 98-473 (the Victims of Crime Act of 1984), as amended,
provides that up to $20 million annually be set aside for these grants out of the Crime Victims Fund.
h. Victims of Child Abuse Act programs are funded through appropriations made to the Justice
Department. The appropriations acts for each of FY2003-FY2005 included general reductions for
discretionary accounts. These reductions are reflected in the numbers for the CASA program but
not for the Children’s Advocacy Centers or the Training program.