{ "id": "R43458", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43458", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585192, "date": "2018-01-02", "retrieved": "2018-09-13T22:50:45.491012", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary authority for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. The federal government has shown long-standing interest in helping states improve their services to children and families and, through the provision of federal support, requires states to meet certain child welfare requirements. For FY2017, an estimated $8.9 billion in federal support was made available for child welfare purposes. FY2018 began on October 1, 2017, but final funding levels for that year have not yet been determined. In the meantime, funding to continue child welfare programs in this new fiscal year has been provided via short-term funding measures, including P.L. 115-56 (through December 8, 2017), P.L. 115-90 (through December 22, 2017), and P.L. 115-96 (through January 19, 2018).\nFederal support for child welfare activities is provided via multiple programs. The largest share of this federal child welfare funding is provided for support of children in foster care, and for ongoing assistance to children who leave foster care for new permanent families (via adoption or legal kinship guardianship). Federal support for these child welfare purposes is authorized in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. It is annually appropriated at the level needed to support a specified share of the cost incurred by states in providing foster care, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship assistance to eligible children. The federal share of that cost was estimated at $7.5 billion in FY2016 and, as of the July 2017 mid-session budget review, was expected to be $7.8 billion in FY2017. \nFederal funding for all other child welfare activities remained at $1.1 billion in FY2017, which was the same level provided in FY2016. This funding is primarily authorized via Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (for child welfare related services to children and their families), as well as some separate authorizations of funding in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (related to services for older youth in care and those who \u201cage out\u201d of care and for Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments), and in multiple program authorizations included in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), Adoption Opportunities, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Federal support provided annually for these various child welfare acts and activities is a fixed sum that is determined, for each program, during the yearly discretionary appropriations process or is based on a mandatory dollar amount specified in the program authorizing law.\nLegislation concerning welfare programs authorized under Title IV-E and Title IV-B is handled in the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees; legislation concerning grants and activities authorized by CAPTA and Adoption Opportunities is handled in the House Education and the Workforce and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees; legislation concerning the grant programs in the Victims of Child Abuse Act is handled in the House and Senate Judiciary committees.\nAt the federal level, these child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nearly all federal child welfare dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis. This money supports research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "3b675cc128148a6e58d16ca8587dbc9cb09dbcc3", "filename": "files/20180102_R43458_3b675cc128148a6e58d16ca8587dbc9cb09dbcc3.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "9a7c2ce137b54096617803ba8c171c543c4575b0", "filename": "files/20180102_R43458_9a7c2ce137b54096617803ba8c171c543c4575b0.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4761, "name": "Child Welfare" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4921, "name": "Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 576925, "date": "2017-12-19", "retrieved": "2017-12-22T14:19:33.816414", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary authority for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. The federal government has shown long-standing interest in helping states improve their services to children and families and, through the provision of federal support, requires states to meet certain child welfare requirements. For FY2017, an estimated $8.9 billion in federal support was made available for child welfare purposes. FY2018 began on October 1, 2017, but final funding levels for that year have not yet been determined. In the meantime, funding to continue child welfare programs in this new fiscal year has been provided via short-term funding measures, including P.L. 115-56 (through December 8, 2017) and P.L. 115-90 (through December 22, 2017).\nFederal support for child welfare activities is provided via multiple programs. The largest share of this federal child welfare funding is provided for support of children in foster care, and for ongoing assistance to children who leave foster care for new permanent families (via adoption or legal kinship guardianship). Federal support for these child welfare purposes is authorized in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. It is annually appropriated at the level needed to support a specified share of the cost incurred by states in providing foster care, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship assistance to eligible children. The federal share of that cost was estimated at $7.5 billion in FY2016 and, as of the July 2017 mid-session budget review, was expected to be $7.8 billion in FY2017. \nFederal funding for all other child welfare activities remained at $1.1 billion in FY2017, which was the same level provided in FY2016. This funding is primarily authorized via Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (for child welfare related services to children and their families), as well as some separate authorizations of funding in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (related to services for older youth in care and those who \u201cage out\u201d of care and for Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments), and in multiple program authorizations included in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), Adoption Opportunities, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Federal support provided annually for this broad range of child welfare activities is a fixed sum that is determined during the yearly discretionary appropriations process or is based on a mandatory dollar amount specified in the program authorizing law.\nLegislation concerning welfare programs authorized under Title IV-E and Title IV-B is handled in the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees; legislation concerning grants and activities authorized by CAPTA and Adoption Opportunities is handled in the House Education and the Workforce and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees; legislation concerning the grant programs in the Victims of Child Abuse Act is handled in the House and Senate Judiciary committees.\nAt the federal level, these child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nearly all federal child welfare dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis. This money supports research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "48e70f7bf6ecaaf9be3dd99384442762f6037c2d", "filename": "files/20171219_R43458_48e70f7bf6ecaaf9be3dd99384442762f6037c2d.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "ca4c6b8a7e530e41362652b75ac77ee57945a183", "filename": "files/20171219_R43458_ca4c6b8a7e530e41362652b75ac77ee57945a183.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4761, "name": "Child Welfare" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4921, "name": "Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 463124, "date": "2017-08-02", "retrieved": "2017-08-22T13:38:03.975094", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary authority for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. The federal government has shown long-standing interest in helping states improve their services to children and families and, through the provision of federal support, requires states to meet certain child welfare requirements. For FY2017, an estimated $8.9 billion in federal support is available for child welfare purposes. \nThe largest share of this federal child welfare funding is provided for support of children in foster care, and for ongoing assistance to children who leave foster care for new permanent families (via adoption or legal kinship guardianship). Federal support for these child welfare purposes is authorized in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. It is annually appropriated at the level needed to support a specified share of the cost incurred by states in providing foster care, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship assistance to eligible children. The federal share of that cost was estimated at $7.5 billion in FY2016 and, as of the July 2017 mid-session budget review, was expected to be $7.8 billion in FY2017. \nFederal funding for all other child welfare activities remained at $1.1 billion in FY2017, which was the same level provided in FY2016. This funding is primarily authorized via Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, as well as some separate authorizations of funding in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act and in additional authorizations included in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), Adoption Opportunities, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Federal child welfare support provided under these authorities is intended to serve many child welfare purposes. These include preventing child abuse and neglect, identifying child victims of abuse or neglect, providing services to enable children to remain safely at home or to be safely reunited with parents, offering post-adoption or other post-permanency services, and helping youth who age out of foster care make a successful transition to adulthood. Federal support provided annually for this broad range of child welfare activities is a fixed sum that is determined during the yearly discretionary appropriations process or is based on a mandatory dollar amount specified in the program authorizing law.\nAt the federal level, child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nearly all federal child welfare dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis. This money supports research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy.\nFederal support for child welfare activities is provided via multiple programs. The largest programs are authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services (CWS) and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) programs are authorized in Title IV-B. Title IV-B also authorizes child welfare research, training, and demonstration grants, the Court Improvement Program (CIP), and Regional Partnership Grants (RPGs) to improve outcomes for children affected by parental substance abuse. Title IV-E authorizes the Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Kinship Guardianship Assistance program, which is commonly called the \u201cIV-E program.\u201d Title IV-E also includes authorization for the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) and Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments. These Title IV-B and Title IV-E programs receive the very large majority of federal funding dedicated to child welfare purposes and legislation concerning them is handled in Congress by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee. \nAdditional federal child welfare dollars support research, services, and other activities intended to prevent child abuse and neglect, improve the work of child protective services (CPS), and promote the adoption of children who do not have permanent families. This funding is authorized under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Adoption Opportunities program. Legislation concerning these programs is handled in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. \nFinally, the Victims of Child Abuse Act authorizes competitive grant funding to support Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners. Authorizing legislation for these programs originated with the House and Senate judiciary committees and, unlike other child welfare programs, funding for these grant programs is administered within the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "646aa5013b627848d69e8f131136aad807042c14", "filename": "files/20170802_R43458_646aa5013b627848d69e8f131136aad807042c14.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "0e6493ff0b7dd2aa895f6356d80a886a6c3e1a5d", "filename": "files/20170802_R43458_0e6493ff0b7dd2aa895f6356d80a886a6c3e1a5d.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4761, "name": "Child Welfare" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4921, "name": "Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458179, "date": "2017-01-10", "retrieved": "2017-01-13T15:42:25.617065", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. In recent years, Congress has annually appropriated between $7.6 billion and $8.7 billion in federal support dedicated to child welfare purposes. Nearly all of those dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). Federal involvement in state administration of child welfare activities is primarily tied to this financial assistance. The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis, and support research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy. At the federal level, child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). However, three competitive grant programs (authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act) are administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) within the Department of Justice (DOJ).\nFederal child welfare support is provided via multiple programs, the largest of which are included in the Social Security Act. Title IV-B of the Social Security Act primarily authorizes funding to states, territories, and tribes to support their provision of a broad range of child welfare-related services to children and their families. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act entitles states to federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and (in states electing to provide this kind of support) kinship guardianship assistance on behalf of each child who meets federal eligibility criteria. Title IV-E also authorizes funding to support services to youth who \u201cage out\u201d of foster care, or are expected to age out without placement in a permanent family. Legislation concerning programs authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E, which represents the very large majority of federal child welfare dollars, is handled in Congress by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee.\nAdditional federal support for child welfare purposes, including research and demonstration funding, is authorized or otherwise supported in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Adoption Opportunities program. Legislation concerning these programs is handled in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Further, the Victims of Child Abuse Act authorizes competitive grant funding to support Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners. Authorizing legislation for these programs originated with the House and Senate Judiciary committees.\nFinal FY2016 child welfare funding ($8.689 billion) was appropriated as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). FY2017 began on October 1, 2016, before passage of final FY2017 appropriations. To allow for continuation of most federal programs and operations, Congress has approved two continuing resolutions. The first (Division C of P.L. 114-223) provided funding through December 9, 2016, and the current (Division A of P.L. 114-254) provides funding through April 28, 2017, or the date on which final full-year appropriations are enacted, whichever comes first. The current continuing resolution funds each of the child welfare programs discussed in this report through that date. \nEach child welfare program that receives discretionary funding is funded through that date at a rate that is based on the FY2016 appropriations provided to it minus an \u201cacross-the-board\u201d amount of 0.1901%. In other words, the annualized level of FY2017 funding provided is about 99.8% of the funding provided for each of the programs in FY2016. For child welfare programs receiving mandatory funding, the continuing resolution makes funding available at the rate needed to maintain the current law program, under the authority and conditions provided in the FY2016 appropriations act. While the continuing resolution allows federal funds to be awarded, until a final appropriations bill is enacted, the total amount of FY2017 funding that will be made available for a given program remains unknown and may be less (or more) than the annualized amount provided in the continuing resolution.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "fc99991aa243c56dff7a8131c33b8d839b249356", "filename": "files/20170110_R43458_fc99991aa243c56dff7a8131c33b8d839b249356.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "54b17b4c9f00a14f7553aaa2878976a2ace9ed97", "filename": "files/20170110_R43458_54b17b4c9f00a14f7553aaa2878976a2ace9ed97.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4761, "name": "Child Welfare" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4921, "name": "Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 457369, "date": "2016-11-30", "retrieved": "2016-12-09T19:09:05.215203", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. In recent years, Congress has annually appropriated between $7.6 billion and $8.7 billion in federal support dedicated to child welfare purposes. Nearly all of those dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). Federal involvement in state administration of child welfare activities is primarily tied to this financial assistance. The remaining federal child welfare dollars (3%) are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis, and support research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy. At the federal level, child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). However, three competitive grant programs (authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act) are administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) within the Department of Justice (DOJ).\nFederal child welfare support is provided via multiple programs, the largest of which are included in the Social Security Act. Title IV-B of the Social Security Act primarily authorizes funding to states, territories, and tribes to support their provision of a broad range of child welfare-related services to children and their families. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act entitles states to federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and (in states electing to provide this kind of support) kinship guardianship assistance on behalf of each child who meets federal eligibility criteria. Title IV-E also authorizes funding to support services to youth who \u201cage out\u201d of foster care, or are expected to age out without placement in a permanent family. Legislation concerning programs authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E, which represents the very large majority of federal child welfare dollars, is handled in Congress by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee.\nAdditional federal support for child welfare purposes, including research and demonstration funding, is authorized or otherwise supported in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Adoption Opportunities program. Legislation concerning these programs is handled in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Further, the Victims of Child Abuse Act authorizes competitive grant funding to support Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners. Authorizing legislation for these programs originated with the House and Senate Judiciary committees.\nFinal FY2016 child welfare funding ($8.689 billion) was appropriated as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). FY2017 began on October 1, 2016, before passage of final FY2017 appropriations. To allow for continuation of most federal programs and operations, Congress approved a short-term continuing resolution (Division C of P.L. 114-223), which provides funding through the earlier of December 9, 2016, or the date on which final full-year appropriations are enacted. The continuing resolution funds each of the child welfare programs discussed in this report through that date. Each child welfare program that receives discretionary funding is extended the same level of funding provided in FY2016 minus an \u201cacross-the-board\u201d amount of just less than one-half of one percent (0.496%). For programs receiving mandatory funding, P.L. 114-223 stipulates that funding is available on the same basis and at the same authorized level as provided for FY2016. \nBeginning with FY2013, some funding appropriated for child welfare programs has been reduced under the sequestration measures provided for in the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25, as amended). The effect of these sequestration measures varies by fiscal year and type of funding authority. The largest amount of federal child welfare funding is provided through mandatory funding authorized under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for support of foster care, adoption assistance, kinship guardianship assistance, and services to youth aging out of foster care. This funding is statutorily exempted from sequestration in every year. A few additional child welfare programs receive mandatory funding and have been subject to sequestration in each of FY2013-FY2017. Principally, this includes the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program. All federal child welfare programs that receive discretionary funding may be subject to sequestration. Through FY2016, however, FY2013 is the only year in which this occurred. A final determination regarding sequestration of discretionary funding for FY2017 can only be made after final appropriations for that fiscal year are enacted.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "64b88125bcd28ed98838558030349cd2dd58c0ef", "filename": "files/20161130_R43458_64b88125bcd28ed98838558030349cd2dd58c0ef.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "0b7ab8f37587a7713ab822906f96253592f2fc8b", "filename": "files/20161130_R43458_0b7ab8f37587a7713ab822906f96253592f2fc8b.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4761, "name": "Child Welfare" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4921, "name": "Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 450476, "date": "2016-03-01", "retrieved": "2016-03-24T17:02:20.655692", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states bear the primary responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children and their families. In recent years, Congress has annually appropriated roughly $8 billion to $9 billion in federal support dedicated to child welfare purposes. Nearly all of those dollars (97%) were provided to state, tribal, or territorial child welfare agencies (via formula grants or as federal reimbursement for a part of all eligible program costs). Federal involvement in state administration of child welfare activities is primarily tied to this financial assistance. The remaining federal child welfare dollars are provided to a variety of eligible public or private entities, primarily on a competitive basis, and support research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects to expand knowledge of, and improve, child welfare practice and policy. At the federal level, child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). However, three competitive grant programs (authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act) are administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) within the Department of Justice (DOJ).\nFinal FY2016 child welfare funding ($8.689 billion) was appropriated as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). Child welfare support is provided via multiple federal programs, the largest of which are included in the Social Security Act. Title IV-B of the Social Security Act authorizes funding to states, territories, and tribes for a broad range of child welfare-related services to children and their families and, separately, funding for research, demonstration projects, and training. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act entitles states to federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and (in states electing to provide this kind of support) kinship guardianship assistance on behalf of each child who meets federal eligibility criteria. Title IV-E also authorizes capped entitlement funding to states (and some discretionary funds as well) for provision of services to youth who \u201cage out\u201d of foster care, or are expected to age out without placement in a permanent family. Legislation concerning programs authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E, which represents the very large majority of federal child welfare dollars, is handled in Congress by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee.\nAdditional federal support for child welfare purposes is authorized or otherwise supported in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), the Adoption Opportunities program and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act. Legislation concerning these programs is handled in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Further, the Victims of Child Abuse Act authorizes competitive grant funding to support Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners. Authorizing legislation for these programs originated with the House and Senate Judiciary committees. \nBeginning with FY2013, some funding appropriated for child welfare programs has been reduced under the sequestration measures provided for in the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25, as amended). The effect of these sequestration measures varies by fiscal year and type of funding authority. The largest amount of federal child welfare funding is provided through mandatory funding authorized under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for support of foster care, adoption assistance, kinship guardianship assistance, and services to youth aging out of foster care. This funding is statutorily exempted from sequestration in every year. A few additional child welfare programs receive mandatory funding and have been subject to sequestration in each of FY2013-FY2016. Principally, this includes the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program, including the various programs that are funded via set-asides of PSSF (e.g., the Court Improvement Program and Regional Partnership Grants to improve outcomes for children affected by parental substance abuse). Total funding appropriated for PSSF (mandatory plus discretionary) in the final FY2016 spending measure (P.L. 114-113) was $405 million. However, total PSSF funding made available for FY2016 was reduced to $381 million because the mandatory portion of this PSSF funding was subject to a 6.8% reduction (i.e., the FY2016 sequestration percentage for mandatory-funded programs classified as \u201cnondefense and nonexempt.\u201d) Many child welfare programs receive discretionary appropriations. Each of these program appropriations were subject to sequestration in FY2013, but in each subsequent year, including FY2016, the total final funding provided on a discretionary basis has been determined to be within the established spending caps. This means the discretionary funding provided for child welfare programs has not been affected (reduced) by sequestration.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43458", "sha1": "284cd498a97ef1f7fd4feca54bf0392f084202ff", "filename": "files/20160301_R43458_284cd498a97ef1f7fd4feca54bf0392f084202ff.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43458", "sha1": "2fe96547fb62a1d0a17902f2ed12565693e0ec3d", "filename": "files/20160301_R43458_2fe96547fb62a1d0a17902f2ed12565693e0ec3d.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2347, "name": "Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2651, "name": "Child Well-Being" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc816331/", "id": "R43458_2015Feb12", "date": "2015-02-12", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150212_R43458_424bebbd87da5f332ad8019fbd03671ea2b864de.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150212_R43458_424bebbd87da5f332ad8019fbd03671ea2b864de.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820041/", "id": "R43458_2015Jan23", "date": "2015-01-23", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150123_R43458_8bbd1654b659c8406d15e5f65c7202a07185e6af.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150123_R43458_8bbd1654b659c8406d15e5f65c7202a07185e6af.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc813331/", "id": "R43458_2014Oct08", "date": "2014-10-08", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20141008_R43458_df0a399385b236f2bfd1f94384fe5f8eeca03a8d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20141008_R43458_df0a399385b236f2bfd1f94384fe5f8eeca03a8d.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc463014/", "id": "R43458_2014Sep16", "date": "2014-09-16", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "This report begins with a review of federal appropriations activity in FY2014 as it relates to child welfare programs, including the effect of the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. The bulk of the report provides a short description of each federal child welfare program, including its purpose and recent (FY2012-FY2014) funding levels.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140916_R43458_513918d72257064ef9a35f689b86ddbad02b9e32.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140916_R43458_513918d72257064ef9a35f689b86ddbad02b9e32.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Children", "name": "Children" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Child welfare", "name": "Child welfare" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid to child welfare", "name": "Federal aid to child welfare" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462351/", "id": "R43458_2014Jul16", "date": "2014-07-16", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding", "summary": "This report begins with a review of federal appropriations activity in FY2014 as it relates to child welfare programs, including the effect of the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. The report provides a short description of each federal child welfare program, including its purpose and recent (FY2012-FY2014) funding levels.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140716_R43458_a4be3973771c23cf80ced8fd0d76dafa50c60d48.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140716_R43458_a4be3973771c23cf80ced8fd0d76dafa50c60d48.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Child welfare", "name": "Child welfare" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Federal aid to child welfare", "name": "Federal aid to child welfare" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Public welfare", "name": "Public welfare" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Domestic Social Policy" ] }