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                    Issue Summary
    Several indicators can gauge the well-being of children—including family, physical and social environments, health, and education. Federal agencies administer a number of programs that can work to address these indicators and help children grow up in safe and healthy environments. However, some of these programs face challenges that need to be addressed.

For example:

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Child Care and Development Fund is the primary source of federal funding for improving low income families' access to quality child care. States must use some of this money to improve the quality and availability of child care. As part of this effort, states fund family child care networks, which offer services like coaching and training to home-based child care providers. However, it is difficult to know if states' efforts to improve the quality of child care are working.
	The COVID-19 pandemic affected the availability of child care for families. During the pandemic, Congress provided more than $52 billion in supplemental funding to help keep child care providers in business and ensure that low-income families could still access care. Most states reported financial problems for child care providers resulting from temporary closures and decreased enrollment, and planned to use COVID relief funding to address these challenges.
	HHS helps states support children in foster care, including those in residential facilities. While some states are employing innovative solutions to address the abuse of youth by staff in such facilities, others continue to face significant challenges. HHS is in a unique position to facilitate information sharing and disseminate best practices across states to prevent and address abuse in youth residential facilities.
	About 1 in 10 young adults and 1 in 30 minors under age 18 experience homelessness without a parent or caregiver over the course of a year. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and HHS provide grants to local organizations to operate programs that could help—like shelters or transitional living programs. However, many of these youth may not be receiving the services for which they are eligible. HHS and HUD could provide more guidance to local programs on how to help youth who are homeless.
	A number of federal grant programs are working to address underlying challenges that Native American youth face—such as poverty and exposure to violence—that can make them susceptible to being arrested, charged, or sentenced in the justice system. There are over 100 federal programs that can help address these challenges. However, federal agencies could improve how they administer these programs.
	HHS awards grants to provide care for unaccompanied children—those without legal immigration status or an available parent or guardian. The grants go to state-licensed organizations that provide shelter and other services. HHS monitors these facilities to ensure they're keeping children safe. However, HHS hasn't met its own targets for how frequently it visits facilities, and doesn't consistently share information with the state agencies that license them.
	USDA oversees child nutrition programs (including the National School Lunch Program), and is working on a number of ways to improve its oversight of these programs. For instance, USDA is giving states information and training on monitoring finances for school meals. It’s also planning to collect more reliable data on children’s participation in the summer meals program. (The COVID-19 pandemic has also had serious effects on children who depend upon school lunches.)Image
              Summer Food Service Program

  Recent Reports
          School Meals: USDA Should Address Challenges in Its “Foods in Schools” ProgramGAO-23-105697
      
	Published:  Jun 14, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jul 14, 2023
                        Family Child Care Networks: Actions Needed to Better Assess Quality Improvement EffortsGAO-23-105640
      
	Published:  May 10, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jun 09, 2023
                        Child Care: Observations on States' Use of COVID-19 Pandemic-Related FundingGAO-23-106833
      
	Published:  May 31, 2023


	Publicly Released: May 31, 2023
                        Child Welfare: HHS Is Taking Steps to Help States Support Relative Caregivers with Evidence-Based ProgramsGAO-23-105624
      
	Published:  Feb 06, 2023


	Publicly Released: Mar 08, 2023
                        Military Child Care: DOD Efforts to Provide Affordable, Quality Care for FamiliesGAO-23-105518
      
	Published:  Feb 02, 2023


	Publicly Released: Feb 02, 2023
                        Online Exploitation of Children: Department of Justice Leadership and Updated National Strategy Needed to Address ChallengesGAO-23-105260
      
	Published:  Dec 14, 2022


	Publicly Released: Dec 14, 2022
                        Foster Care: Further Assistance from HHS Would be Helpful in Supporting Youth's LGBTQ+ Identities and Religious BeliefsGAO-22-104688
      
	Published:  Apr 20, 2022


	Publicly Released: May 20, 2022
                        Child Welfare: HHS Should Facilitate Information Sharing Between States to Help Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Residential FacilitiesGAO-22-104670
      
	Published:  Jan 24, 2022


	Publicly Released: Feb 23, 2022
                        Youth Homelessness: HUD and HHS Could Enhance Coordination to Better Support CommunitiesGAO-21-540
      
	Published:  Sep 30, 2021


	Publicly Released: Nov 01, 2021
                        Federal Low-Income Programs: Use of Data to Verify Eligibility Varies Among Selected Programs and Opportunities Exist to Promote Additional UseGAO-21-183
      
	Published:  Feb 25, 2021


	Publicly Released: Mar 29, 2021
                        Unaccompanied Children: Actions Needed to Improve Grant Application Reviews and Oversight of Care FacilitiesGAO-20-609
      
	Published:  Sep 15, 2020


	Publicly Released: Oct 07, 2020
                        Native American Youth: Agencies Incorporated Almost All Leading Practices When Assessing Grant Programs That Could Prevent or Address Delinquency [Reissued with revisions on Aug. 27, 2020.]GAO-20-600
      
	Published:  Aug 06, 2020


	Publicly Released: Aug 06, 2020
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  Related Pages
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          RelatedK-12 Education
GAO Contacts
    
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            Director
      
            goodwing@gao.gov
      
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              Alicia Puente Cackley
            
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              Catina Latham
            
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            lathamc@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-7114
                                                      MultimediaPodcasts
    
      Exploitation of Children Online is Increasing, As Are The Challenges In Preventing It
    Wednesday, December 14, 2022
      
            Transcript
          Preventing the Abuse of Youths Living in Residential Facilities
    Wednesday, February 23, 2022
      
            Transcript
          Childhood Obesity
    Tuesday, November 12, 2019
      
            Transcript
INFOGRAPHIC:  U.S. Children by the Numbers
        Infographic
                      INFOGRAPHIC:  U.S. Children by the Numbers
            Thursday, November 09, 2017
Coronavirus
          Blog Post
              School Lunches During COVID-19
            Wednesday, April 8, 2020
      
            What happens to children who rely on meals at school when the coronavirus pandemic results in...
          GAO Watchblog
          Blog Post
              The Health and Welfare of the Nation’s Children (podcast & infographic)
            Monday, November 13, 2017
      
            The long-term success of the nation depends in large part on how well families and society care for...
          Coronavirus
          Blog Post
              Are Schools Prepared to Respond to a Pandemic?
            Thursday, April 2, 2020
      
            Schools and colleges across the nation are closing their doors, sending students home, and moving to...
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