Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding
Released: 2018-01-02T00:00:00

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).
Federal 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.
Federal 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 "age out" 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.
Legislation 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.
At the federal level, these child welfare programs are primarily administered by the Children's 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.

subsections: section_title: Introduction
paragraphs: 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 have the primary authority to ensure the welfare of children and their families. At the state level, the child welfare "system" consists of public and private child protection and child welfare workers, public and private social services workers, state and local judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel. These agents of various state and local entities assume interrelated roles while carrying out child welfare activities, including 
promoting child and family well-being through community-based activities; investigating, or otherwise responding to, allegations of child abuse and neglect; providing services to families to ensure children's safety in the home; removing children from their homes when that is necessary for children's safety; supervising and administering payments for children placed in foster care; ensuring regular case review and permanency planning for children in foster care; helping children leave foster care to permanent families via reunification with parents or, when that is not possible, via adoption or legal guardianship; offering post-permanency services and supports to maintain families; and helping older children in foster care, and youth who leave care without placement in a permanent family, to become successful adults.
Federal involvement in child welfare is primarily tied to the financial assistance it provides to states and most federal dollars dedicated to child welfare purposes are provided to state child welfare agencies for the provision of foster care. As a condition of receiving these foster care and certain other child welfare program funds, states must typically provide nonfederal resources of between 20% and 50% of the program costs, and they are required to abide by a series of federal child welfare policies. Those policies are designed to ensure the safety and well-being of all children and families served. However, the most specific and extensive federal requirements concern the protection of children in foster care, especially to ensure them a safe and permanent home.
Federal child welfare funding is primarily provided as part of the annual appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education and is included in the HHS, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) account. These funds are provided on both a mandatory and a discretionary basis and are administered by the federal Children's Bureau, which is a part of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) within the ACF. Separately, discretionary funding for several child welfare programs authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act is provided in the annual appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce and Justice. Those program funds are administered at the federal level in the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP). 
 Table 1 summarizes child welfare funding provided in recent years. 
Apart from the child welfare-specific (dedicated) federal funding shown in Table 1 and provided for programs described in this report, state child welfare agencies tap significant program resources—as much as $5.0 billion—from other federal funding streams. Often these include the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Medicaid. These federal funding streams have federal statutory goals, or support activities, that overlap with child welfare purposes. However, they are not solely dedicated to child welfare purposes, and states are not necessarily required to use them for those specific purposes. Neither do states need to meet federal requirements specific to the conduct of their child welfare programs as a condition of receiving this "non-dedicated" funding.
This report begins with an overview of FY2018 appropriations activities for child welfare programs through mid-January 2018, followed by a discussion of final appropriations actions for FY2017. It then includes a discussion of how annual funding levels are determined for child welfare programs and briefly discusses the effect of sequestration on that child welfare funding. The remainder, and largest part, of the report provides descriptions of each federal child welfare program, including its purpose and recent (FY2013-FY2017) funding levels.
subsections: section_title: Status of FY2018 Appropriations
paragraphs: FY2018 began on October 1, 2017, but final appropriations levels for that year have not yet been determined. In the meantime, to allow continuation of most federal activities, including for child welfare purposes, three short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) have been enacted. The first (Division D of P.L. 115-56 ) provided funding through December 8, 2017. The second (Division A of P.L. 115-90 ) extended funding for FY2018 through December 22, 2017. The current CR (Division A of P.L. 115-96 ) extends federal funding through January 19, 2018.
The FY2018 CRs continue support for each of the child welfare programs that received funding in the previous year (FY2017). (For several of these programs, funding authority otherwise would have expired.) Until a final FY2018 appropriations bill is enacted, the total child welfare funding that will be provided remains uncertain and may be less (or more) than the annualized levels provided in the CR. Accordingly, the CR stipulates that in continuing projects and activities, only the most limited funding actions may be taken. 
Under the current CR, for each child welfare program that receives discretionary funding, the funding level provided is based on the program's FY2017 appropriation level, reduced by an "across-the-board" amount of 0.6791%. Child welfare funding provided on a discretionary basis for FY2017 totaled close to $597 million. On an annualized basis, a 0.6791% reduction of that overall sum would provide total child welfare discretionary funding of around $593 million (or about 99.3% of the FY2017 total).
For those child welfare programs receiving annual appropriated mandatory funding, the CR provides that funding is available to maintain current law program needs under the authority and conditions provided for those programs in FY2017. Principally, those child welfare programs that are partially or entirely funded by appropriated mandatory dollars are the federal Title IV-E foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance program; the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program; and the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program basic grants. 
section_title: FY2017 Appropriations
paragraphs: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 ( P.L. 115-31 ), provides some $8.9 billion for child welfare programs, including an estimated $7.8 billion for foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance, and $1.1 billion for all other child welfare activities, services, and research. Compared to FY2016 funding levels, HHS estimated support for foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship would increase for FY2017. Funding provided for all remaining child welfare activities remained generally unchanged from FY2016.
Although FY2017 began on October 1, 2016, full-year FY2017 appropriations levels for most federal programs and operations were not enacted until May 5, 2017. To allow for continuation of these activities in the interim, Congress approved three short-term continuing resolutions. The first (Division C of P.L. 114-223 ) provided funding through December 9, 2016. The second continuing resolution (Division A of P.L. 114-254 ) extended funding through April 28, 2017, and the third continuing resolution ( P.L. 115-30 ) extended funding until enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, on May 5, 2017 ( P.L. 115-31 ). 
subsections: section_title: How Is the Level of Federal Child Welfare Funding Determined Each Year?
paragraphs: Nearly all child welfare funds are provided (appropriated) in annual appropriations acts. The amount of funding provided for a given program is controlled through the appropriations process, or in the case of programs receiving mandatory funding, via the authorizing legislation. 
The largest share of federal support for child welfare is provided to maintain children in foster care and for ongoing assistance to children who leave foster care for adoption or kinship guardianship. Funding for these purposes is authorized under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act on a "mandatory" and "open-ended" basis. Under this kind of funding authorization, the federal government is committed to paying a part of the cost of all eligible program expenditures made on behalf of children meeting federal eligibility criteria. Accordingly, the annual appropriation level specified by Congress for IV-E foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance typically matches the amount of funding the Administration estimates (in its budget request) as necessary for the federal government to meet its commitment under the current program authorizing law. In the event this amount is underestimated, there is typically included in the appropriations act language that authorizes HHS to draw additional funds from the federal Treasury to meet federal program obligations for the year. Alternatively, if the Administration overestimates funding needed this amount will lapse (no longer be available for expenditure from the federal Treasury). 
Funding for all other child welfare programs is authorized on either a "discretionary" or a "capped mandatory" basis. A capped mandatory funding authorization includes a specific dollar amount written into the authorizing law. The primary child welfare programs with this type of funding authorization are the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (general program) and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program. Most child welfare programs have discretionary funding authorizations. For these programs, the level of funding is decided as part of the annual appropriations process. The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services (CWS) program, Adoption Opportunities, Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments, and various grants authorized under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) are examples of child welfare programs with funding authorized on a discretionary basis. (For a complete list of programs by type of funding authority, see Appendix B .)
section_title: Sequestration and Child Welfare Funding
paragraphs: Sequestration generally means application of an across-the-board spending cut. For nonexempt mandatory programs, it is currently scheduled to apply in every year through FY2025. For nonexempt programs with discretionary funding, it ma y be required in any year through FY2021 (but only if one or both of the discretionary spending caps specified in the statute is exceeded). 
Mandatory child welfare funding provided under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is specified in statute as exem pt from sequestration and is, for the most part, not subject to a required automatic reduction of appropriations. This exempt Title IV-E funding represents by far the largest share of all federal child welfare funding and includes the mandatory Title IV-E funding for foster care, adoption assistance, guardianship assistance, and the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. 
Mandatory funding provided under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act as part of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program is classified as non exempt. This means that, beginning with FY2013, mandatory funding provided for the PSSF program has been subject to annual reductions (or sequestration), ranging from a low of 5.1% to a high of 7.2%. For FY2018, the funding cut is 6.6%, a slightly smaller reduction than the 6.9% applied for FY2017 that reduced FY2017 PSSF mandatory dollars by roughly $24 million (applied proportionately across all the activities funded by mandatory PSSF dollars, such as child and family services, Regional Partnership Grants, and Court Improvement). The dollar effect of the FY2018 sequestration on mandatory PSSF funding cannot be determined until the final PSSF mandatory funding level has been given.
All child welfare programs with discretionary funding are nonexempt, and each was subject to sequestration in FY2013 (resulting in a 5.0% reduction in appropriated funding). In each subsequent fiscal year through FY2017, however, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determined that discretionary funds appropriated did not exceed the caps established by the Budget Control Act (as amended) and thus no sequestration was applicable. A determination about any needed discretionary sequestration for FY2018 cannot be made until after final appropriations have been enacted. For a description of sequestration by year and a table showing child welfare programs by their type of funding authority and status as "exempt" or "nonexempt," see Appendix B .
section_title: Federal Child Welfare Programs
paragraphs: Federal child welfare programs are described below. Each description includes program purposes, the final funding level in each of FY2013-FY2017, and the type and status of the program's funding authority. Unless otherwise specified, the term states refers to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the term territories refers to Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
section_title: Title IV-B of the Social Security Act
paragraphs: Title IV-B of the Social Security Act principally authorizes support for child welfare activities that is provided to states, territories, and tribes under two formula grant programs. Separately it authorizes funding for related research, training, and other projects; this funding is competitively awarded to eligible entities. Legislation authorizing these Title IV-B programs and activities is handled by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.
subsections: section_title: Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services
paragraphs: Known as "Child Welfare Services," this program authorizes formula grant funding to states, territories, and tribes to support services and activities intended to 
protect and promote the welfare of all children; prevent child abuse, neglect, or exploitation; permit children to remain in their own homes or return to them whenever it is safe and appropriate; promote safety, permanency, and well-being for children in foster care and adoptive families; and provide training to ensure a well-qualified child welfare workforce.
There are no federal eligibility criteria for recipients. Instead, states may elect to fund services and activities to meet these goals on behalf of any child or family that they determine to be in need of them. To receive these funds, states must meet federal requirements, many of which are designed to ensure all children in foster care receive certain permanency planning and other protections. 
subsections: section_title: Planned Use of Funds
paragraphs: While state spending patterns vary, for FY2017 states collectively planned to spend the largest part of their federal Child Welfare Services funding (44%) on child protective services. These services may include investigations of child abuse and neglect, caseworker activities on behalf of children and their families (both those in foster care and those at home), counseling, emergency assistance, and arranging alternative living arrangements. Additionally, states planned to spend a combined 30% of this funding on three categories of services: family support, family preservation, and time-limited family reunification services. These services are intended to strengthen families to promote family and child well-being, as well as to enable children to remain safely at home, or if they have entered foster care, to be returned safely home. 
Collectively states expected to spend remaining federal FY2017 CWS funds as follows: 10% for foster care maintenance payments (to pay the room and board cost of a child's stay in foster care); 6% for program administration; 5% for services to promote and support adoption and for adoption and guardianship subsidies; and 5% for other activities, services, or planning, including training and foster and adoptive parent recruitment.
section_title: Distribution
paragraphs: All states receive a base allotment of $70,000 in CWS funding. The remaining program appropriations are distributed to states based on their relative share of the population of children (individuals under age 21), with a higher per child federal funding level provided to states with lower per capita income. Generally, to receive its full federal allotment of CWS funding, each state must provide nonfederal resources equaling no less than 25% of all funds spent under this program. Tribal allotments are reserved by HHS out of a state's Child Welfare Services allotment based in large part on a tribe's share of the state's child (under age 21) population.
section_title: Funding
paragraphs: Funding for Child Welfare Services was first authorized in 1935 as part of the original Social Security Act and is currently included at Title IV-B, Subpart 1 of that act. Most recently, annual discretionary funding of $325 million was authorized for the program through FY2016 (i.e., through September 30, 2016). Congress, however, may choose to extend CWS funding without explicit funding authorization, and with P.L. 115-31 it continued federal support for the program through FY2017 at just below $269 million; this is the same nominal dollar level provided for CWS in FY2016. Table 2 shows final funding for the program in each of FY2013-FY2017.
section_title: Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program
paragraphs: The Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program authorizes formula grant funding to states, tribes, and territories for services to 
strengthen at-risk families and prevent maltreatment; preserve families and ensure children's safety and well-being by providing services that allow children to safely remain with (or return) to their families; address problems of families whose children have been placed in foster care (to enable timely reunification); and support adoptive families by providing supportive services necessary for them to make a lifetime commitment to their children.
To receive these funds, states must meet certain federal requirements, which are primarily related to state planning for comprehensive services to children in families. 
The statute also provides that before PSSF funds are distributed to states for support of these services, a part of the program's funding must be reserved for other grants and activities, including grants under the Court Improvement Program and Regional Partnership Grants. (These, and other reservations of PSSF funds, are described further below.) 
subsections: section_title: Planned Use of Funds
paragraphs: States receiving PSSF funds are required to spend a "significant" portion of this federal funding (generally interpreted in guidance as at least 20% of the federal dollars) on each of four defined service categories: family support, family preservation, time-limited family reunification, and adoption promotion and support. For FY2017, states collectively planned to spend their federal PSSF funding as follows: 26% for family support services, 23% for family preservation services, 22% for adoption promotion and support services, and 22% for time-limited family reunification services (i.e., services intended to enable children who have been in foster care for no more than 15-17 months to return safely to their homes). Remaining funds were to be spent for program administration (7%) or other program costs, including planning (2%).
section_title: Funding
paragraphs: The PSSF program was added to the Social Security Act (Title IV-B, Subpart 2) in 1993 ( P.L. 103-66 ). Most recently combined mandatory and discretionary funding for the program was authorized (through FY2016) at $545 million/year. Congress has never funded the program at its full authorized level. Final funding made available for PSSF (including all related activities) has for many years been less than the total authorized level. This is because (1) Congress has never provided the full level of discretionary funding authorized beginning in FY2002, and (2) in more recent years, some or all of the funding provided has been subject to sequestration. Across FY2013-FY2017, sequestration has reduced final PSSF funding by a combined $118 million (or, on average, a little less than $24 million in each of those five years). 
For FY2017, despite the expired funding authorizations, Congress provided PSSF (and related activities) funding totaling $381 million. This amount is comparable to the FY2016 funding level for the same program activities. Final FY2017 PSSF funding was provided in three (instead of two) parts: $325 million for mandatory PSSF purposes, $60 million for discretionary PSSF purposes, and $20 million in mandatory funds for two of the three Court Improvement Program (CIP) grants. After sequestration of 6.9% of mandatory funds, the total available for PSSF (including all CIP funding) summed to just under $381 million. Table 3 shows actual program funding (i.e., the amount made available after sequestration) for each of FY2013-FY2017. 
section_title: Distribution of PSSF Child and Family Services Funding
paragraphs: PSSF funds for child and family services are distributed to states based on their relative share of the national population of children receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (most recent three-year average). To receive its full federal allotment, each state must provide nonfederal resources equaling no less than 25% of funds spent under this program. 
section_title: Reservation and Distribution of PSSF Funds for Other Grants and Activities
paragraphs: Apart from funding child and family services, the statute requires specified amounts of PSSF funding to be reserved each year for related programs and activities. These include the Court Improvement Program, Regional Partnership Grants (to improve outcomes for children affected by parental substance abuse), Monthly Caseworker Grants, and program-related evaluation and research. Therefore, before PSSF funds are distributed to states and territories for provision of child and family services, the law provides specific dollar or percentage amounts that HHS must set aside for each of these programs or activities.
 Table 4 shows all PSSF funding (mandatory and discretionary) divided by purpose or activity for each of FY2013-FY2017. For FY2017, the funding shown includes the separate appropriation provided for the Court Improvement Program, as noted above. In all fiscal years, the amount shown as funding for "services to children and families" is what remains after the required reservations of funds for specific purposes or activities.
section_title: Family Connection Grants
paragraphs: Section 427 of the Social Security Act authorizes Family Connection Grants. Congress last provided funding for these grants in FY2014. Family Connection Grants were used to support and evaluate four kinds of services, each intended to enable children in foster care, or at risk of entering care, to stay connected with their families, including
kinship navigator programs , which assist kin caregivers in finding and using services to meet their own needs and the needs of the children they are serving; family finding , which uses intensive search methods to locate biological family members who may serve as a child's permanent family; family group decisionmaking , which involves holding meetings to enable family members to develop a plan for the care and protection of children who have come to the attention of the child welfare agency; and residential family treatment , which enables parents to address substance abuse and mental health issues in a comprehensive treatment program while continuing to live with their children.
Across the life of this program, Family Connection grants were awarded to 49 grantees, including 11 public child welfare agencies (state, local, and tribal) and 38 private nonprofit agencies located in 23 states. Projects supported with Family Connection Grant dollars were typically funded for three years, and grantees were required to provide nonfederal matching funds (between 25% and 50%, depending on the year of the grant) and to participate in coordinated evaluation activities. HHS also awarded a separate evaluation contract related to these grants.
These grants were established as part of the Fostering Connections to Success and Improving Adoptions Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-351 ) and were never funded via annual appropriations acts. Instead, P.L. 110-351 appropriated $15 million annually to support their initial five years of operation (FY2009-FY2013), and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ) appropriated $15 million in FY2014 funding for these grants. (See Table 5 .)
section_title: Child Welfare Research, Training, or Demonstration Projects
paragraphs: Section 426 of the Social Security Act, established in the early 1960s, authorizes HHS to make grants, or to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements, to support research or demonstration projects that have regional or national significance, advance the practice of child welfare, encourage the use of research-based experimental or special types of child welfare services, and advance training for child welfare workers (including through traineeships). Entities eligible to conduct this work include public or nonprofit institutions of higher education, public or nonprofit agencies that conduct research or child welfare-related activities, and state or local (public) child welfare agencies. HHS is granted broad authority to design and administer these grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements. 
HHS describes the "critical" uses of the Section 426 funding as follows: 
administration of awards to colleges and universities that provide stipends for education of child welfare professionals; delivery of a child welfare training curriculum on leadership and effective change management; development of a comprehensive workforce framework; convening and providing leadership academies for state agency directors and middle managers, deans and directors of schools of social work, and online training for front-line supervisors; facilitating a national peer network of child welfare leaders focused on professional development of their workforce and strategic dissemination of effective and promising workforce practices. 
Beginning with FY2015, Congress has in each year stipulated that funds in this Section 426 account are available to support the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). For more information about this survey, see the NSCAW discussion below. 
Section 426 of the Social Security Act authorizes annual funding for research, demonstration, and training activities on a permanent (no year limit) basis at "such sums as Congress may determine necessary." Final funding provided under this authority in FY2013-FY2017 is shown in Table 6 below. 
subsections: section_title: National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW)
paragraphs: Section 429 of the Social Security Act requires HHS to conduct (directly or by contract) a nationally representative study of children who are at risk of child abuse or neglect, or are determined by the state to have been abused or neglected. In response to this 1996 legislative directive, NSCAW was launched. Two surveys have been conducted (in 1999 and again in 2008), gathering initial ("baseline") information on a national sample of approximately 6,000 children living in families investigated for child abuse and neglect along with follow-up information on these children and their families collected at intervals (up to five years) following the initial surveys. HHS has begun work for a third NSCAW survey, which, following recruitment of participating agencies, is expected to begin initial data collection in late summer 2017. (This third survey, unlike the first two, is being supported with funds from the Child Welfare Research, Training, and Demonstration account, described in the preceding section. )
The survey data collected via NSCAW are unique from other child welfare administrative data reported by state child welfare agencies to HHS. NSCAW looks at a nationally representative sample of children in families investigated for child abuse and neglect—and without regard to whether child abuse or neglect was determined by a child protective services investigator to have occurred or whether a child entered foster care. Thus the survey provides a more complete portrait of the full spectrum of children and families served by child welfare agencies. Further, NSCAW gathers information from children, parents, and other caregivers, as well as teachers and caseworkers, to examine the socio-behavioral, education, health status, and other conditions of children and families served by child welfare agencies, and it uses a range of standardized questions ("instruments") to do this. Multiple reports, research briefs, and info-graphics have been produced for HHS from these survey data, and many researchers have accessed the data for additional published analyses. 
section_title: Title IV-E of the Social Security Act
paragraphs: Title IV-E of the Social Security Act principally entitles states, tribes, and territories with an approved Title IV-E plan to reimbursement of part of their costs of providing foster care, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship assistance on behalf of eligible children. Each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia has an approved IV-E plan. Puerto Rico has long been the only territory with such a plan; however, effective with FY2017, the U.S. Virgin Islands also has received approval of a Title IV-E plan. Additionally (as of November 2017), 10 tribal entities have an approved Title IV-E plan (see Appendix C ). 
Title IV-E also authorizes capped mandatory funding for support of services to children who are expected to leave foster care because they "age out" of care rather than because they are returned home or placed in a new permanent family, youth who have aged out of care, and youth who leave care at age 16 or older for adoption or legal guardianship. Authorized under the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, any state, tribe, or territory with an approved Title IV-E plan is entitled to a part of this capped mandatory funding. 
Additionally, Title IV-E provides annual capped mandatory funding for technical assistance related to providing child welfare services to tribal children, and this includes competitive grants to tribes to support development of a Title IV-E plan. 
Finally, provisions included in Title IV-E also authorize discretionary funding for incentive payments to states and territories (with an approved Title IV-E plan) that increase adoptions and/or legal guardianships of children from foster care. 
Legislation authorizing these Title IV-E programs and activities is handled by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.
subsections: section_title: Foster Care
paragraphs: When a child is found to be abused, neglected, or otherwise unsafe in his or her own home, the state may act to remove the child from that home and to place him or her in foster care. Foster care is a temporary living arrangement intended to ensure a child's safety and well-being until a permanent home can be reestablished or newly established for the child. Under the Title IV-E program, the public child welfare agency must work to ensure that each child who enters foster care is safely returned to his/her parents, or—if this is determined not possible or appropriate (by a court)—to find a new permanent home for the child via adoption, legal guardianship, or placement with a fit and willing relative. 
The number of children in foster care declined from a reported high of 567,000 on the last day of FY1999 to 397,000 on the last day of FY2012. However, that number has trended up since then, reaching close to 437,000 children as of the last day of FY2016.
subsections: section_title: Funding Available for Costs of Providing Foster Care to Eligible Children
paragraphs: Each state, tribe, or territory with an approved Title IV-E plan is entitled to partial federal reimbursement for every eligible cost related to providing foster care to eligible children. Title IV-E eligible criteria are spelled out in law and regulation. 
subsections: section_title: Eligible Children
paragraphs: Nationally, there were more than 437,000 children in foster care on the last day of FY2016, and during that same fiscal year, more than 166,000 children received Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments in an average month. These figures suggest that considerably less than half of all children in foster care met federal Title IV-E foster care eligibility criteria. In general, those criteria 
stipulate that the child must be removed from a home with very low income (i.e., 50% or less of federal poverty level in about three-quarters of the states); require that the removal must have been accomplished through a judicial finding that the home was "contrary to the welfare" of the child, or through a voluntary placement agreement entered into by the child's parent/guardian and the state child welfare agency; provide that a child must be living in a licensed foster family home or a "child care institution;" and require the child to be under the age of 18 or, if the state, tribe, or territory has included assistance to older youth in its IV-E plan, under the age of 19, 20, or 21 (as elected by the state). 
As of April 2017, 29 jurisdictions (including 23 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 tribes) have approval to provide Title IV-E assistance for youth beyond their 18 th birthday. (See Appendix D for a list.) 
section_title: Eligible Costs
paragraphs: Eligible Title IV-E costs include
spending on foster care maintenance payments (for the eligible child's "room and board"); caseworker time to perform required activities on behalf of eligible children in foster care or children at imminent risk of entering foster care (e.g., finding a foster care placement for a child and planning services needed to ensure a child does not need to enter care, is reunited with his or her parents, has a new permanent home, or is otherwise prepared to leave foster care); program-related data system development and operation; program eligibility determinations; training and recruitment of foster care providers for eligible children and training for child welfare workers and certain professional partners working with eligible children; implementing procedures related to identifying child-welfare-involved children and youth who are victims of (or at risk of) sex trafficking, documenting this, determining any services needed, and reporting information regarding victims of sex trafficking to law enforcement agencies; and other program administration costs (related to eligible children in foster care). 
Federal support for these Title IV-E program costs is 75% of a state's IV-E program training costs, 50% of all other eligible program administration costs, and ranges between 50% and 83% of eligible foster care maintenance payment costs (the percentage is redetermined annually and varies by state, with higher federal support going to states with lower per capita income). 
section_title: Waivers
paragraphs: Currently 28 jurisdictions (26 states, the District of Columbia, and the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe) have approved child welfare demonstration projects (i.e., "IV-E waivers"). Under the terms and conditions of their specific waiver agreements, each of these jurisdictions is permitted to use Title IV-E foster care funds to provide services or assistance to children (and their families)—even if those children or those services or assistance would not normally be considered eligible. Under current law, HHS is not authorized to grant any new child welfare waivers, and no state may operate a waiver project after September 30, 2019. ( Appendix E shows jurisdictions with current Title IV-E waiver projects, including implementation and current end dates.) 
First authorized by Congress in 1994, the goal of permitting waivers of specific Title IV-E requirements is to allow states to demonstrate alternative and innovative practices that achieve federal child welfare policy goals in a manner that is cost neutral to the federal Treasury. Each project has a specific approval period (usually five years), must be determined to cost the federal government no more in Title IV-E support than it would without the waiver project, and must be independently evaluated. 
Title IV-E waiver projects vary significantly in geographic and program scope. Some operate (or plan to) on a statewide basis, others are limited to specific regions or counties in the state. The interventions may focus on different age groups (e.g., children age 0-5 years; children ages 12-17) and different service needs or circumstances (e.g., children entering care for the first time; children at risk of entering care; children transitioning from group care to home; children with substance-abusing parents). At the same time, most of the approved waiver projects seek to use Title IV-E funds to demonstrate services or support that achieve one or more of the following:
prevent child abuse or neglect or the recurrence of child abuse or neglect; prevent the need for children to enter (or reenter) foster care; and/or increase the speed and frequency with which children who are in foster care find permanency (through reuniting with family or placement in a new permanent adoptive or guardianship home). 
Additional focus, in a smaller number of projects, addresses other issues, such as preventing or reducing the use of group ("congregate") care for children in foster care; addressing behavioral health needs of children; addressing needs of caregivers with substance use disorders; and reducing placement instability for children in foster care. 
Before approving a Title IV-E waiver project, HHS, together with the OMB, must determine a method to ensure that the state will not receive more funding under the approved waiver than it would have received in the absence of the waiver. For most current waiver projects, this "cost neutrality" determination is based on a prenegotiated capped allocation of a specific part of their federal Title IV-E foster care funding. In some of those states, the cap applied to funding across the entire state and for nearly all foster care costs; in others the cap applied only to one or more counties/cities or for specific kinds of costs (e.g., cost of congregate care). In places without a cap, cost neutrality might rely on providing the same average per child cost for "usual care" as is provided for "treatment" care. 
While states are able to use waiver funds for more activities and to serve different populations than would be allowed generally under the Title IV-E program, they also must continue—out of this same funding—to provide any needed foster care services and to meet all applicable federal child protections for those children (e.g., case planning and review). Additionally, to receive funding under the waiver, each jurisdiction must continue to provide the nonfederal (state) share of program funding, which varies by type of program cost and may also vary by state (based on the amount of maintenance payment spending included in the cap). The state's share is always 50% for program administrative costs that are included in the capped funding (e.g., spending on case planning and management) and may not be more than 50% nor less than 17% for maintenance payments costs that are included in the cap. 
A survey of state child welfare spending in state FY2014 found that among 18 states that reported spending under the waiver project of more than $1 billion, most of this funding continued to be used to provide foster care to children who were eligible for Title IV-E foster care (58%, $614 million) or was spent on those same foster care costs for children in foster care who did not meet Title IV-E eligibility (32%, $339 million). The remainder was spent primarily on other services and activities, whether for Title IV-E eligible or ineligible children (9%, $75 million) and for program development or evaluation (1%, $26 million). 
section_title: Foster Care Funding Authorized
paragraphs: Title IV-E entitlement (or mandatory) funding for foster care is authorized on a permanent basis (no year limit) and is provided in annual appropriations acts. Congress typically provides the amount of Title IV-E foster care funding (or "budget authority") that the Administration estimates will be necessary for it to provide state or other Title IV-E agencies with the promised level of federal reimbursement for all of their eligible Title IV-E foster care costs under current law. As of the mid-session review (released July 2017), HHS estimates Title IV-E foster care funding needed for FY2017 to be $5.091 billion. For federal Title IV-E funds obligated by HHS in FY2013-FY2016 and estimated budget authority needed for FY2017, see Table 7 . 
section_title: Adoption Assistance
paragraphs: Under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, states, territories, or tribes with an approved Title IV-E plan are required to enter into an adoption assistance agreement with the adoptive parents of any child who is determined by the Title IV-E agency to have "special needs." An adoption assistance agreement must specify the nature and amount of any payments, services, and assistance to be provided. 
To determine that a child has "special needs," that public agency must find that 
the child cannot or should not be returned to his/her parents; reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to place the child for adoption without assistance have been made (unless those efforts would not be in the child's best interest); and the child has a specific condition or factor making it unlikely that he/she would be adopted without provision of adoption assistance or medical assistance.
Each state, territory, or tribe may establish its own "special needs" condition or factors and, as suggested in federal law, they frequently reference the child's age; membership in a sibling group; physical, mental, or emotional disability/disorder; and/or membership in a racial/ethnic minority. Nearly all special needs adoptees were previously in foster care. Nationally, states reported that some 82% of children adopted from foster care in FY2015 were determined by the state to have special needs, and the primary special needs identified were membership in a sibling group (32%); medical condition or physical, mental, or emotional disability (21%); "other—Title IV-E agency defined factor" (21%); age (16%); or race/ethnicity (9%).
subsections: section_title: Eligibility for Title IV-E Adoption Assistance for Special Needs Adoptees
paragraphs: For any child with special needs, federal reimbursement is available to states for a part of the cost of paying the adoptive parent's nonrecurring adoption expenses (i.e., one-time costs related to legally finalizing the adoptions). Federal reimbursement is also available for a part of the cost of providing ongoing (monthly) subsidies to adoptive parents on behalf of children with special needs. Under current law, some children with special needs are required to meet additional income and other criteria to be eligible for this ongoing assistance, but those additional rules are being phased out, primarily based on age of the special needs child in the fiscal year the adoption assistance agreement is finalized. During FY2016, ongoing monthly Title IV-E adoption assistance payments were paid on behalf of close to 456,700 children on an average monthly basis. 
States, territories, or tribes with a Title IV-E plan approved by HHS may seek federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of making payments agreed to under Title IV-E adoption assistance agreements and for related program administration costs, including training. As with Title IV-E foster care funding, Title IV-E adoption assistance funding is authorized on a permanent (no year limit) basis, and Congress typically provides the amount of annual funding for this open-ended entitlement that HHS estimates will be necessary to reimburse states for all eligible program costs. As of the mid-session review (released July 2017), HHS estimated it would need $2.658 billion in federal Title IV-E adoption assistance budget authority for FY2017. For federal Title IV-E adoption assistance funds obligated in FY2013-FY2016 and estimated budget authority need for FY2017, see Table 7 .
section_title: Kinship Guardianship Assistance
paragraphs: Beginning in FY2009, states or territories (and, as of FY2010, tribes) with an approved Title IV-E plan were permitted (but not required) to include provision of kinship guardianship assistance in those Title IV-E plans. As of June 2017, 44 jurisdictions, including 35 of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 8 tribes, had incorporated this kind of assistance in their Title IV-E plans. (For a list of these jurisdictions, see Appendix F .) Accordingly, these states and tribes may seek federal reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing ongoing kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of every eligible child. 
To be eligible for Title IV-E kinship guardianship, a child must have previously been in foster care and must have been eligible to receive Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments (while living in the home of the prospective legal relative guardian). During FY2016, ongoing monthly Title IV-E kinship guardianship assistance payments were paid on behalf of some 25,500 children on an average monthly basis.
As with other Title IV-E program components, funding is authorized on a permanent basis (no year limit). Jurisdictions with an approved Title IV-E plan that includes the kinship guardianship assistance option are entitled to reimbursement for a part of the program costs, including guardianship assistance payments paid to legal relative guardians on behalf of eligible children, and for related program administration, including training. As of the mid-session review (released July 2017), HHS estimates that FY2017 federal budget authority needed for Title IV-E kinship guardianship assistance will be $136 million. For federal Title IV-E kinship guardianship funds obligated in FY2013-FY2016 and estimated budget authority needed for FY2017, see Table 7 . 
subsections: section_title: Obligations of Funds by Title IV-E Program Component
paragraphs: Title IV-E funding is described as an "open-ended entitlement" because the law (Section 474 of the Social Security Act) provides that a state is entitled to reimbursement for a particular share (or percentage) of every eligible program cost incurred by a state or tribe operating a Title IV-E program. To meet this commitment in each annual appropriations act, Congress provides "definite budget authority" (a certain amount of funds) that enables HHS to reimburse states, territories, and tribes for their eligible Title IV-E costs. 
The amount needed for this purpose is estimated in the annual budget request of the President, and this is typically the amount of definite budget authority provided by Congress. In any year that Congress authorizes more funding than needed to make these reimbursements, the extra funding authority will eventually lapse (no longer be available from the federal Treasury). Alternatively, if the definite budget authority provided is not enough to provide the federal share (reimbursement) of the eligible Title IV-E program costs submitted by states, territories, or tribes, the annual appropriations acts typically also include an "indefinite budget authority." This authority allows HHS to access additional funds (within a specific time frame) to meet the statutory commitment to reimburse a part of every eligible program cost. 
 Table 7 shows the amount of funding (actual or estimated) obligated by HHS in each of FY2013-FY2017 for Title IV-E foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance. 
section_title: Tribal Title IV-E Plan Development and Technical Assistance
paragraphs: Section 476(c) of the Social Security Act authorizes HHS to make grants to tribes, valued at up to $300,000, to assist them with the cost of preparing a Title IV-E plan for HHS approval. Among other things, this may include costs related to the development of a tribal data collection system, a cost allocation methodology (which is needed to seek federal reimbursement for any Title IV-E cost that is not an assistance payment), and agency and tribal court procedures necessary to meet the case review system requirements under the Title IV-E program. The grants are to be provided only to tribes that intend to submit a Title IV-E plan for HHS approval within 24 months. HHS awards these grants annually, on a competitive basis. Through the last day of FY2017 (September 30, 2017), 34 tribes (or tribal consortia) had received a plan development grant, and, as of November 2017, 10 tribes (or consortia) had approved Title IV-E plans (see Appendix C ).
Additionally, Section 476(c) requires HHS to provide "information, advice, educational materials, and technical assistance" to tribes regarding providing services and assistance to tribal children under the child welfare programs authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. This technical assistance must also be available for states regarding working with tribes to develop cooperative agreements (under which some IV-E funding received by the state is provided to the tribe) as well as consulting with tribes on the state's plan to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). As part of responding to this requirement, HHS is currently funding the National Child Welfare Capacity Building Center for Tribes.
The authorization for tribal technical assistance and IV-E plan development grants was added to the Social Security Act by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-351 ). The law provides a permanent (no year limit) annual appropriation of $3 million.
section_title: Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
paragraphs: The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) (§477 of the Social Security Act) authorizes funding for states, territories, and tribes to provide services to help youth make a successful transition from foster care to adulthood. Under the program, states are expected to identify children or youth likely to remain in foster care until their 18 th birthday to ensure that they have regular and ongoing opportunities to engage in age- or developmentally appropriate activities and to help prepare them for self-sufficiency. States are also expected to provide financial, housing, counseling, education, employment, and other appropriate supports to former foster youth 18, 19, or 20 years of age and to promote and support mentoring or other connections with dedicated adults. CFCIP may also support services to youth who, after reaching 16 years of age, leave foster care for adoption or legal guardianship. States must ensure that youth served under CFCIP are actively involved in decisions about the services they receive. 
Beginning with FY2011, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico report to HHS on "independent living services" that were paid for by the agency that administers the CFCIP program. During FY2013, close to 100,000 youth (ages 14-26 years) received at least one such service, and many of those youth (58%) received three or more services. The most common services were academic support, career preparation, and education about housing and home management. 
Funding for the Chafee program is authorized on a permanent basis (no year limit) as a capped entitlement to states and territories, provided they have an approved Title IV-E plan. Tribes may also receive direct federal support under this program, with or without an approved Title IV-E plan. The authorized amount of funds, $140 million, is provided in annual appropriations bills. (Beginning with FY2020, this annual amount is slated to rise to $143 million.) The mandatory CFCIP funds are considered a part of the Title IV-E program and, apart from a small portion used for federal program administration, are not subject to sequestration. (See Table 9 .) 
section_title: Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers (ETVs)
paragraphs: An additional purpose of the CFCIP is to provide Educational and Training Vouchers (ETVs) (§477(i) of the Social Security Act) to defray the cost of postsecondary education or training for any youth who is eligible for CFCIP general services. ETVs may be valued at up to $5,000 a year and may be used for the "cost of attendance" (including tuition, fees, books, room and board, supplies, and other items) at an "institution of higher education" (including public or private, nonprofit two- and four-year colleges and universities, as well as proprietary or for-profit schools offering technical training programs, among others). Discretionary funding for ETVs is authorized on a permanent (no year limit) basis, and program appropriations are distributed based on a state's relative share of children in foster care. Final funding provided for CFCIP, including Educational and Training Vouchers for each of FY2013-FY2017, is shown in Table 9 . 
subsections: section_title: Funding and Distribution for the CFCIP Program, Including ETVs
paragraphs: HHS is required to reserve 1.5% of the funding appropriated for CFCIP, including ETV funding, to support evaluations, technical assistance, performance measurement, and data collection related to the program. The remaining general program funds are distributed to states and territories with an approved Title IV-E plan based on their relative share of the national population of children in foster care. However, no state or territory may receive an allotment of less than $500,000 or the amount it received under CFCIP's predecessor program (in FY1998)—whichever is greater. Chafee ETV funds are distributed based solely on the state's relative share of the national population of children in foster care. Additionally, to receive any CFCIP or ETV funding, states must give certain assurances to HHS related to their operation of the program. Finally, a state must provide nonfederal resources of no less than 20% of total spending under the program to receive its full CFCIP and ETV allotments.
section_title: Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments
paragraphs: Adoption Incentive Payments were established in 1997, as part of a package of policy changes included in the Adoption and Safe Families Act, (ASFA, P.L. 105-89 ) that were intended to ensure children's safe and expeditious exit from foster care to permanent homes, including through adoption. Since ASFA's enactment in 1997, the annual number of children leaving foster care for adoption has risen from roughly 30,000 to more than 50,000, and the average length of time it took states to complete the adoption of a child from foster care declined by close to one year (from about four years to less than three). In FY2016, state child welfare agencies helped to complete more than 57,000 adoptions. 
The most recent reauthorization of the incentives, enacted in 2014 ( P.L. 113-183 ), added recognition of state success at finding permanent families for children through legal guardianship and renamed the program as Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments. Close to 24,000 children left foster care for guardianship during FY2016. 
States do not earn an incentive payment for every adoption or guardianship completed. Instead, they earn incentives only when they increase the rate (or percentage) of children in their state who leave foster care for new and permanent families. Specifically, under the incentive structure established with the 2014 reauthorization, they may earn the following amounts: 
$5,000 for each adoption of a foster child (any age) that results from the increased rate; $4,000 for legal guardianship established for a foster child (any age) that results from the increased rate; $7,500 for each adoption or guardianship for foster children ages 9 to 13 that results from the increased rate; and $10,000 for each adoption or guardianship for foster children age 14 or older, that results from the increased rate. 
A state is found to have an increased rate if during the fiscal year the percentage of children leaving foster care in one or more of these categories exceeds the comparable percentage for either the most recent previous year or the average percentage for the three most recent previous years.
States may spend adoption incentive payments earned toward any services authorized under the child welfare programs in Title IV-B or Title IV-E of the Social Security Act and, as of FY2014, they have a full 36 months from the month the award payment is made. 
In recent years, the amount of incentive payments earned by states in a single year (between $40 million and $55 million) has consistently outpaced the annual funding appropriated to pay those incentives ($38 million). Accordingly, to ensure states received the full incentives earned, HHS has awarded the payments across two years—using a part of the appropriations from both years. However, unless the final FY2018 funding provided for these payments is appropriated at a level higher than the $38 million appropriated in each recent year, even this two-year approach will not enable HHS to pay states the full $55 million in incentive payments they earned in FY2016. 
In September 2017, when it announced the FY2016 awards, HHS had just $5 million of the FY2017 appropriation incentive payments available to make these awards (because in June 2017 it used $23 million of the FY2017 appropriation to make states whole for their FY2015 incentive awards). Accordingly, and as it had done in past years, HHS made initial, prorated incentive payments with those funds—meaning each state received roughly 10% of the incentive payment amount it earned for FY2016. However, that leaves the outstanding balance to be paid out of the FY2018 appropriation at $50 million, or $12 million more than the $38 million that has been provided annually for the incentive payments in recent years. (See Appendix G for incentive awards earned by category and state for FY2016.) 
Although the discretionary funding authorization for Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive payments ($43 million/year) expired on September 30, 2016, Congress chose to continue the incentive program and provided FY2017 funding for them as part of P.L. 115-31 . See Table 10 for final funding in each of FY2013-FY2017. 
section_title: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)
paragraphs: CAPTA was enacted in 1974 ( P.L. 93-247 ) at a time of growing awareness and concern about abuse of children in their own homes. It has been reauthorized many times since then, most recently by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ). CAPTA authorizes formula grant funding to states to improve their child protective services (state grants); competitively awarded funds to support research, technical assistance, and demonstration projects related to prevention, assessment, and treatment of child abuse and neglect (discretionary activities); and funding to all states for support of community-based activities to prevent child abuse and neglect (community-based grants). Further, it incorporates program authority for what are commonly referred to as "Children's Justice Act grants." Legislation authorizing these programs and activities in CAPTA is handled by the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
subsections: section_title: CAPTA State Grants
paragraphs: The focus of CAPTA is on providing a primarily social service (rather than a criminal justice) response to abuse or neglect of children carried out by their parents or other caretakers . The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-22 ) amended CAPTA to require (as of May 29, 2017) that children identified as victims of sex trafficking (regardless of whether the trafficker is considered their parent or "caretaker") must also be counted as victims of child abuse and provided access to social services. In FY2015, state and local child protective services (CPS) agencies received 4.0 million calls or other referrals alleging abuse or neglect involving an estimated 7.2 million children. After screening those referrals they determined CPS response (investigation or assessment) was warranted for 2.2 million of the referrals, involving an estimated 3.4 million children. 
Under CAPTA State Grants (Section106 of CAPTA), each state and territory receives funds to make improvements to its CPS system. In recent years, funding provided via these state grants has offered less than $12 for each CPS investigation or assessment of child abuse or neglect carried out by states (on a national basis). Therefore, the bulk of the cost to receive and respond to child abuse or neglect allegations is assumed to be borne by states and localities out of their own treasuries or using other federal funding (e.g., Social Services Block Grant).
The CAPTA statute lists 14 potential areas for CPS program improvement (or uses of funds). A little more than two-thirds of the states (67%) reported their intention to use their CAPTA state grant funds to improve the intake, assessment, screening, and investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect. Considerably more than half (58%) intended to use the funds to develop, improve, and implement risk and safety assessment tools and protocols, including use of differential response, and a similar share (56%) intended to use the funds to improve case management, ongoing case monitoring, and delivery of services and treatment provided to families. 
To receive CAPTA state grant funds each state, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, must assure HHS that it has 
a statewide system in place to receive and screen reports of child abuse or neglect and to provide appropriate responses that ensure children's safety, including developing a plan of safe care for infants brought to the attention of CPS (by health care providers) as substance-exposed; state laws that mandate specific individuals to make reports of known or suspected child abuse or neglect and provide immunity from prosecution for individuals who make these reports in good faith; a technology system that allows the state to track reports of child abuse and neglect (from intake to final disposition); and statewide procedures that, among other things, maintain the confidentiality of child abuse and neglect records; offer training to CPS workers; provide an appropriately trained guardian ad litem or advocate for each child abuse or neglect victim involved in judicial proceedings; and provide for cooperation between state law enforcement agencies, appropriate state human services agencies, and courts in the investigation, assessment, prosecution, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. 
In addition, states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, must establish and support Citizen Review Panels to evaluate the effectiveness of their CPS policies and practices and they must, "to the maximum extent practicable," submit annual data to HHS regarding child abuse and neglect in their state.
subsections: section_title: Selected Amendments in the 2010 CAPTA Reauthorization and Other Subsequent Changes
paragraphs: The most recent reauthorization of funding for CAPTA state grants occurred in late 2010. That law ( P.L. 111-320 ) also made some amendments to the CAPTA state grant programs. More recently, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-22 ) and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA, P.L. 114-198 ) also amended the program.
subsections: section_title: CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010
paragraphs: The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ), which extended CAPTA funding authorization through FY2015, also made other changes to the law. Among these, it required every state to
have a law regarding who is mandated to report known or suspected child abuse and neglect; describe how it uses "differential response," to vary how it interacts with families for whom a report of child abuse or neglect has been made; assure that it has a "technology system" capable of tracking child abuse and neglect cases; ensure it does not require a child to be reunited with a parent who has subjected the child to sexual abuse and/or who is required to register as a sex offender; and report information to HHS (to the maximum extent practicable) regarding the demographics and education/training of its CPS workforce and the states own established policies regarding education/training CPS workers as well as caseload standards for CPS workers and their supervisors.
The 2010 law also called for collaboration between CPS agencies and agencies providing services to families including victims of both adult domestic violence and child abuse, and made other changes to the act.
section_title: Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015
paragraphs: Effective May 29, 2017, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act ( P.L. 114-22 ) requires a state to assure (as part of its CAPTA state plan) that it has the following in place:
procedures for the identification and assessment of all reports involving known or suspected child victims of sex trafficking; and provisions relating to training CPS workers to do this work and to provide services to victims of sex trafficking, including through coordination with other social service agencies. 
According to HHS, 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had submitted signed assurances that they were in compliance with these trafficking-related provisions as of mid-June 2017. Assurances from three additional states (California, Hawaii, and Washington), were pending and expected to be submitted shortly. For the remaining four states (Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, and West Virginia), the Children's Bureau was continuing to determine the status of implementation. It planned to require development of a "program improvement plan," if this was determined necessary for a state to reach compliance. The 2015 law also requires states, to the maximum extent practicable, to report to HHS the number of children determined to be victims of sex trafficking. HHS plans to begin collecting these data from states beginning in FY2018.
section_title: Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA)
paragraphs: For more than a decade, each state receiving CAPTA basic grant funding has been required to have statewide policies mandating that health care providers notify CPS when an infant shows signs of prenatal exposure to, or withdrawal symptoms from, illegal drugs. Additionally, they have been required to develop a safe plan of care for any such infant. CARA ( P.L. 114-198 ) built on this prior policy to require this notice be made without regard to whether the drug was illegal or legal and describes a required plan of safe care as one addressing both the health and well-being needs of the child and the substance abuse treatment needs of the child's parent/caregiver. Additionally, it requires states to report to HHS (to the extent possible) on the numbers of children identified under these provisions, those for whom a plan of safe care was developed, and those for whom referrals to services were made. (HHS plans to begin collecting these data from states beginning in FY2018.) 
CARA also calls on states to monitor their own compliance with the CARA provisions and provides for heightened federal monitoring of state compliance with this requirement. Each state was required to detail its efforts to comply with these CARA provisions in a report that was submitted to HHS ACF regional offices by June 30, 2017. States unable to ensure compliance with the new requirements were able to enter into a "program improvement plan" (PIP) designed to allow them to meet the requirements. As of December 2017, 23 states had entered into a PIP for this purpose.
section_title: Funding and Distribution
paragraphs: The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ) extended annual discretionary funding for these grants through FY2015 (i.e., until September 30, 2015). Nonetheless, Congress chose to provide discretionary funding for these grants in FY2016 and again in FY2017. Each state and territory receives a base allotment of $50,000, and the remaining funds are distributed among the states and territories based on their relative share of the child (under age 18) population. For FY2015, the median CAPTA state grant award was $346,000, and among the 50 states, the grants ranged from a low of $87,000 (VT) to a high of $2.8 million (CA). 
To address low CAPTA grant amounts in states with small child populations, the 2010 reauthorization act added "minimum allotment" provisions. Under these provisions, no state is to receive an annual CAPTA grant of less than $100,000, provided overall funding appropriated for the grants was at least $27,535,000. This funding level trigger, which was designated at $1 million above the level Congress provided for the grants in FY2009, has not been reached. Funding has instead decreased for the grants, and therefore no change in the distribution of CAPTA state grant funding has been made. Final funding for CAPTA state grants in each of FY2013-FY2017 is shown in Table 11 .
section_title: CAPTA Discretionary Activities
paragraphs: With the enactment of CAPTA, Congress sought to create a federal focal point for efforts to prevent, identify, and treat child abuse and neglect. Funding for CAPTA discretionary activities is used to support research and demonstration projects, and to collect and disseminate data and information. These activities are intended to improve understanding and practice with regard to preventing, identifying and treating child abuse and neglect. 
Under current law, HHS is required to maintain a national clearinghouse concerning child abuse and neglect that gathers and disseminates information on best practices and effective programs that prevent and/or respond to child abuse; provides technical assistance to state and local public and private agencies related to preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect; and collects and annually publishes data on child maltreatment. HHS is further required to fund field-initiated and interdisciplinary research related to protecting children from abuse and neglect and improving their well-being and to support the study of the national incidence of child abuse and neglect. Current law also permits HHS to fund demonstration projects or grants on a range of suggested topics (many related to training CPS staff and other relevant individuals). Additionally, HHS is permitted to establish an office on child abuse and neglect for the purpose of carrying out CAPTA and to ensure inter- and intra-departmental coordination of activities related to child abuse and neglect. The Office of Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN), within the Children's Bureau at HHS, carries out CAPTA and works to coordinate child abuse prevention and treatment activities within HHS and across federal agencies, including through its leadership of the Federal Interagency Work Group on Child Abuse and Neglect. The OCAN uses CAPTA discretionary funds to support inclusion of child abuse and neglect-related information on the online portal, Child Welfare Information Gateway ( http://www.childwelfare.gov ), collection of state data via the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and publication of annual reports ( Child Maltreatment ) based on those data. 
Funding provided for CAPTA Discretionary Activities also currently supports efforts to build the capacity of public child welfare agency workers (and the public or private agencies they work with) to carry out and continuously improve their work; planning grants for developing a model intervention for youth with child welfare involvement who are at-risk of homelessness; and partnerships to demonstrate the effectiveness of supportive housing for families in the child welfare system. The Design Options for Understanding Child Maltreatment project is now under way and intends to identify new methods to obtain accurate and ongoing information on the incidence of child abuse and neglect, as well as key research priorities for the field. Finally, funds from this account have been used to help establish the National Advisory Committee on Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States.
HHS awards CAPTA Discretionary Activities funds to eligible public and private entities (on a competitive basis) to carry out the required and/or authorized CAPTA activities. In some years, Congress has also indicated more specific uses for these funds as part of the appropriations process. For example, in each of FY2014-FY2017, report language or explanatory statements accompanying final appropriations bills have called for a part of this CAPTA funding to be used for "implementation of research-based court team models that include the court system, child welfare agency, and community organizations in order to better meet the needs of infants and toddlers in foster care." HHS has responded by funding the Quality Improvement Center (QIC) for Research-Based Infant-Toddler Court Teams. 
The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ) extended annual discretionary funding for CAPTA's discretionary activities through FY2015. Congress continued to provide funding for this account in FY2016 and FY2017. For final CAPTA discretionary activities funding for FY2013-FY2017, see Table 11 .
section_title: Community-Based Grants to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
paragraphs: Title II of CAPTA supports the efforts of community-based organizations to prevent child abuse and neglect. These prevention grants—referred to by HHS as Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention grants (CBCAP)—are distributed by formula to a lead entity in each state and territory. The lead entity is required to distribute the funds to community-based organizations in the state that work to prevent child abuse and neglect, including through support of parent education, mutual support, and self-help activities; provision of community and social service referrals, outreach services, voluntary home visiting, and respite care; and support for public information campaigns to prevent child abuse or neglect. The lead entity is often the state child welfare agency but may also be another statewide (public or private) entity (e.g., a state Children's Trust Fund). 
Out of funds provided for these grants, the law provides that 1% of funds must be set aside for tribal and migrant programs. In addition, it permits HHS to allocate whatever sums are necessary to support the work of state lead entities by creating, operating, and maintaining a peer review process, information clearinghouse, and computerized communication system between state lead entities and to fund a yearly symposium and biannual conference related to implementing the grants. As part of carrying out this requirement, HHS supports the National Resource Center for Community Based Child Abuse Prevention (also known as FRIENDS) to provide training and technical assistance for state lead entities. 
The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ) extended annual discretionary funding for CBCAP through FY2015 (i.e., until September 30, 2015). Congress chose to continue to provide funding for these grants in FY2016 and in FY2017. Final funding for CBCAP grants, for each of FY2013-FY2017, is shown in Table 11 . 
To receive its allotment under the program, a state lead agency must assure that it will provide no less than 20% in nonfederal matching funds. Further, each state's allocation of CBCAP funds is based in part on the amount of nonfederal money leveraged by the state for child abuse prevention activities. Specifically, 70% of the grant funding is distributed to each state and territory based on its relative share of children (individuals under age 18) in the nation (except that by statute no state may receive less than $175,000). The remaining 30% of the grant funding is distributed to each state (including Puerto Rico) based on the relative share of all nonfederal (private, state, local) funds that was directed through the state's lead entity to fund community-based child abuse prevention services and activities.
section_title: Children's Justice Act Grants
paragraphs: Children's Justice Act grants (Section 107 of CAPTA) administered by HHS are provided to help states and territories improve the assessment, investigation, and/or prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases—particularly cases involving suspected sexual abuse and exploitation of children, child fatalities suspected to be caused by abuse or neglect, and those involving children who are disabled and children with serious health disorders. Among other things, the improvements must aim to limit additional trauma to a child and/or child's family. 
To be eligible to receive these funds, a state or territory must meet the requirements necessary to receive CAPTA state grants, and it must establish and maintain a multidisciplinary taskforce to review how the state handles civil and criminal child abuse and neglect cases, including cases involving more than one jurisdiction (e.g., state and tribe, or more than one state). The taskforce must make recommendations for ways to improve handling of these cases through reform of state law, regulations, and procedures; training; and/or testing of innovative or experimental programs. States are further required to receive recommendations from the taskforce every three years and must implement the recommendations (or an alternative plan). 
While the program authority for Children's Justice Act grants is contained in Section 107 of CAPTA, that law does not authorize funding for them. Instead, the grants are funded out of the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). The CVF consists primarily of criminal fines and fees that are paid to the federal government. It is administered by the Office for Victims of Crime within the Department of Justice (DOJ). Section 1404A of the Victims of Crime Act (42 U.S.C. §10601, et seq.) requires DOJ to annually set aside up to $20 million for Children's Justice Act purposes, of which 85% is directed to HHS (for distribution to 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico), and the remaining 3% is retained by DOJ for competitive grants to tribal entities. FY2013-FY2017 funding for this program is shown in Table 12 .
section_title: Victims of Child Abuse Act
paragraphs: Title II of the Crime Control Act of 1990 ( P.L. 101-647 ) created the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VCAA). That act authorizes several child welfare programs that are administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP), an agency within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at DOJ. Apart from these three programs, the VCAA includes provisions requiring specified professionals to report suspected child abuse or neglect that they learn about while carrying out their profession on federal land or in federally operated facilities , and provides criminal penalties for those failing to make such reports. Additionally, it requires federal agencies and agencies operated or contracted to operate by the federal government to ensure criminal background checks are conducted for any individual hired by the agency or facility to provide a wide range of care or services to children. The legislation establishing the VCAA was handled by the Senate and House judiciary committees.
subsections: section_title: Improving Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse Cases
paragraphs: Subtitle A (Sections 211-214B) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act supports the expansion and improvement of Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs). These centers are intended to coordinate a multidisciplinary response to child abuse (e.g., law enforcement, child protection/social service, medical, mental health) in a manner that ensures child abuse victims (and any nonoffending family members) receive the support services they need and do not experience the investigation of child abuse as an added trauma. CACs are widespread. The VCAA authorizes funds to directly support establishment and operation of local and regional children's advocacy centers, as well as training and technical assistance related to improving the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect.
Nationally there are close to 800 CACs located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Coverage varies significantly by state, and the National Children's Alliance reports that some 13.5 million children in the nation (about 1 in 5) live in areas without access to a CAC. Close to 325,000 children were served at CACs in 2016, including nearly 222,000 who received an onsite forensic interview (68.1%). Many children received more than one service, which might include counseling or referrals to counseling, medical exam or treatment, and in some instances offsite forensic interviews. Children served were most often female (62.8%) and 12 years of age or younger (72.2%). More than half (53.1%) were white, about 1 in 5 (20.5%) were black, and about 14.5% were Hispanic or Latino. 
Sexual abuse was the most commonly reported abuse, involving about two-thirds (66.4%) of the children served at CACs in 2016. Children served may have experienced more than one type of abuse. Other abuses reported among children served were physical abuse (19.6%), neglect (7.4%), witnesses to violence (6.9%), child drug endangerment (3.3%), or "other" (5.7%). More than 6 in 10 of the alleged abusers (60.3%) were related to the children served (i.e., parent, step-parent, or other relative). Among all alleged offenders, about 8% were 12 years of age or younger and a little more than 10% were 13 through 17 years of age.
For purposes of the CACs' work (and related technical training and assistance), "child abuse" is defined to mean "physical or sexual abuse or neglect of a child." As provided in the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-22 ), this includes "human trafficking and the production of child pornography." That law also authorized grants to develop and implement specialized programs to identify and provide direct services to victims of child pornography. Further, it established a Domestic Trafficking Victims Fund—to consist of financial penalties collected for certain human trafficking-related violations and other specified funds—and directed that a part of those dollars must be used (in each of FY2016-FY2019) to support those grants or enhance the programming related to responding to child pornography. 
Annually, DOJ awards the bulk of the CAC funding to the National Children's Alliance, which makes sub grants to support the work of local children's advocacy centers, establishes standards and provides accreditation to local and state chapter CACs, and offers other training and technical assistance. Federal law also requires the establishment and support of four regional children's advocacy centers to increase the number of communities with CACs, help improve their practice, and support development of state chapter organizations for CACs, including by serving as resource and training centers for those local CACs and state chapters. Currently the four regional centers are located in Huntsville, AL; Philadelphia, PA; St. Paul, MN; and Colorado Springs, CO. In addition, the law seeks to improve the prosecution of child abuse cases by authorizing additional funds specifically for training and technical assistance to attorneys and others involved in criminal prosecution of child abuse. Funding to support this purpose has frequently been awarded to the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse.
Annual discretionary funding authority to support regional and local CACs ($15 million) and training and technical assistance to improve criminal prosecution of child abuse ($5 million) was extended for each of five years (FY2014-FY2018) by P.L. 113-163 . 
For FY2017, Congress provided $21 million, $1 million more than was provided for this account in FY2016. Senate Appropriations Committee report language (made applicable to the funding by the explanatory statement accompanying the final FY2017 appropriations act) stipulates that not less than 90% of the funds are provided "for the purposes of developing and maintaining child advocacy centers, including training and accreditation" and that $5 million must be used to support Regional Children's Advocacy Centers. The additional $1 million, it notes, is provided to "support a pilot project to identify, develop, and operationalize best practices," whereby the CAC model and expertise can be used to help address child abuse on military installations. See Table 13 for FY2013-FY2017 final funding. 
section_title: Court-Appointed Special Advocates
paragraphs: Subtitle B (Sections 215-219) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act provides funding to support access to advocates for victims of child abuse or neglect. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs)—sometimes called guardians ad litem —are volunteers who are appointed by judges and who work to ensure that a child's best interest is presented to the judge in court proceedings related to child abuse and neglect.
The first CASA pilot program began in Seattle in the late 1970s, and the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (National CASA Association) was founded in 1982 to help replicate and support CASA programs across the nation. In 1984, when the association incorporated, there were 107 state and local CASA programs in 26 states. As of 2015, close to 950 state, local, and tribal CASA programs located in 49 states and the District of Columbia were a part of the National CASA Association. 
As early as 1974, when Congress enacted CAPTA, it sought to ensure that every child who was a part of court proceedings because of child abuse and neglect had a guardian ad litem to represent their best interest. However, 16 years later, when it authorized funds specifically for CASA (as part of the 1990 Victims of Child Abuse Act), Congress found that only a small fraction of children in child abuse and neglect proceedings received CASA representation. It stated then that the purpose of the funding dedicated to CASA was to ensure that each of these children would have a CASA made available to them. In 2015, more than 250,000 children—most of who were in foster care—were served by nearly 77,000 CASA volunteers. However, the National CASA estimated that as many as 452,000 children in need of a CASA volunteer during 2015 did not have one.
Each year funds appropriated for CASA authorization have been awarded to the National CASA Association, which awards sub grants (on a competitive basis) to be used for new local program development or expansion of existing programs and state CASA organizations. The National CASA Association also uses this federal funding to provide training and technical assistance to local CASA programs, child welfare professionals, attorneys, judges, social workers, and volunteer advocates.
As part of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act ( P.L. 113-4 ), Congress extended annual discretionary funding authority for the CASA program at $12 million for each of FY2014-FY2018. Final federal funding appropriated for the CASA program in each of FY2013-FY2017 (shown in Table 13 ) has been less than this authorized level.
section_title: Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners
paragraphs: Sections 221-224 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 required OJJDP to make grants to improve the judicial system's handling of child abuse and neglect cases. The statute authorizes grants to be made to national organizations to develop model technical assistance and training programs. Beginning with FY1992, funding appropriated under this authority has been awarded to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). Drawing on the experience and reform initiatives it has funded in 36 "model courts" across the nation, NCJFCJ has developed resource guidelines and provides technical assistance and training aimed at improving how courts handle child abuse and neglect cases.
Since the early 1990s, Congress has provided annual funding dedicated to this training program (with or without current funding authority), and in early 2013, as part of reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act ( P.L. 113-4 ), it extended annual discretionary funding authority for the program at $2.3 million for each of FY2014-FY2018. Final federal funding appropriated for Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel and Practitioners in each of FY2013-FY2017 is shown in Table 13 . 
section_title: Other Programs
paragraphs: Additional child welfare programs are included in separate acts as described below. Legislation authorizing these programs and activities is handled by the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate HELP Committee.
subsections: section_title: Adoption Opportunities
paragraphs: First enacted in 1978, the Adoption Opportunities program requires HHS to have an administrative structure that allows for centralized planning across all departmental programs and activities affecting foster care and adoption. It requires HHS to support adoption recruitment activities, including through a "national adoption information exchange" and to support a national resource center on special needs adoptions. Additionally, it authorizes federal funds to support projects or other activities that encourage and facilitate adoption of older children, children who are members of minority groups, and others with "special needs;" aim to eliminate barriers to cross-jurisdictional (including interstate) placement of children in need of adoption; and provide postadoption supports. Postadoption supports are described by the law as including individual, group, and family counseling; respite care; day treatment; case management; assistance to support groups for adoptive parents, adopted children, and siblings of adopted children; assistance to adoptive parent organizations; and training of public and private child welfare personnel, mental health professionals, and others to provide postadoption services.
Adoption Opportunities funds are used by HHS to achieve program purposes, either directly or by competitive award of contracts, grants, or other agreements. Depending on the activity authorized, eligible entities include states, local government entities, public or private child welfare or adoption agencies, other public or private agencies or organizations, adoptive family groups, and adoption exchanges. Some of the Adoption Opportunities "major" program activities have included 
developing and implementing a national adoption information exchange system (which includes an online web portal known as AdoptUSKids featuring a national photo listing of children available for adoption as well as information about prospective foster or adoptive parents ); developing and implementing an adoption training and technical assistance program (current projects include the Quality Improvement Center on Adoption/Guardianship Support and Preservation and support for adoption-related information on the Child Welfare Information Gateway); conducting ongoing, extensive recruitment efforts on a national level to encourage the adoption of older children, minority children, and special needs children (current work includes support for the National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment of Foster and Adoptive Parents and a series of Public Service Announcements intended to encourage adoption of children, especially older children and children who are part of sibling groups); increasing states' effective use of public and private agencies for the recruitment of adoptive and foster families and assistance in placement of children; promoting programs to increase the number of older children adopted from foster care; providing for programs aimed at increasing the number of minority children (in foster care and with the goal of adoption) who are placed in adoptive families, with a special emphasis on recruitment of minority families; and providing for postadoption services for families who have adopted children with special needs, and promoting programs that effectively meet the mental health needs of children in foster care, including addressing the effects of trauma. 
Reducing interstate barriers to placement of children has been a long-running concern of the program, and HHS has recently used Adoption Opportunities funding to extend support for the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE) project for three years. Six states initially participated in a NEICE pilot, which enabled electronic exchange of data needed to process interstate placement of children. Evaluation of the pilot found reduced placement time and other improved efficiencies. By funding a continuation of this project through May 2018 HHS hopes to extend use of the system to all states. As of June 2017, 15 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia were participating. 
Annual discretionary funding for the Adoption Opportunities program was authorized at $40 million for FY2010 and "such sums as necessary" for each of FY2011 through FY2015. Congress chose to continue appropriations for the program in FY2016, and again in FY2017. (See Table 14 for final Adoption Opportunities funding in FY2013-FY2017.) 
Report language intended to guide agency use of FY2017 Adoption Opportunities funding encourages HHS/ACF to "fund activities to improve hospital-based adoption support services for pregnant and expectant mothers, including training for hospital staff and doctors. Such activities would help ensure that mothers who wish to make an adoption have access to trained staff and comprehensive supports throughout the adoption process." 
section_title: Abandoned Infants Assistance
paragraphs: The Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 ( P.L. 100-505 ) responded to congressional concerns about the number of infants who remained in hospital care beyond their medical need to do so and who, often because of parental drug use, were born with exposure to drugs, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or both. The act authorized funding for local demonstration projects to prevent and respond to the abandonment of infants and young children. Congress last provided funding for this program ($11 million) in FY2015.
For purposes of this program, the terms abandoned and abandonment of infants or young children refer to infants or young children who are "medically cleared for discharge from acute-care hospital settings, but remain hospitalized because of a lack of appropriate out-of-hospital placement alternatives." To address the needs of these infants and young children it authorizes local demonstration projects to
provide services to biological family members for any condition that increases the probability of the abandonment of infants and young children; identify and address the needs of abandoned infants and children; assist abandoned infants and young children so they can live with biological family members, or, if appropriate, in a foster family home—or, if neither of those is possible, by carrying out residential (group) care programs for them; recruit, train, and retain foster parents for abandoned infants and young children; provide respite care services to families and foster families of abandoned infants and young children who are infected with HIV, had perinatal exposure to HIV and/or a "dangerous drug," or who have a life-threatening illness or other special medical need; provide model programs offering health, educational, and social services for abandoned infants and young children at a single site; and recruit and train health and social services personnel to work with families, foster care providers, and residential care programs serving abandoned infants and young children. 
HHS awarded funds to public and private nonprofits seeking to carry out these local projects. Grantees were required to agree to give priority for services to abandoned infants or young children who are infected with HIV, had perinatal exposure to HIV or a controlled substance, or who have a life-threatening illness or other special medical need. From FY1991 through FY2015, HHS funded the National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center, which disseminated findings from evaluations of the project (as required by the act) and offered training and technical assistance to local project grantees. The center is now closed.
Survey data from the mid-2000s suggest that the number of infants who remain in hospital care beyond their date of medical discharge, as well as the number of infants in hospitals who are not yet medically cleared to leave the hospital but who are considered unlikely to do so with their biological parent(s), has declined. In 2006, the combined national estimate of such infants was a little less than 12,900. This was substantially fewer than the estimates of more than 30,600 such infants in 1998, and 21,600 in 1991. However, the 2006 survey found that while these infants used to be concentrated in urban area hospitals, they were now more widely dispersed across the nation, appearing in hospitals serving suburban and rural counties as well as those in urban areas. The 2006 survey concluded that positive trends it identified, including a decline in the number of infants "boarded" in the hospital and reduced lengths of stay for those who did stay beyond their medical need to do so, might be attributable to hospitals and child welfare agencies becoming more responsive to needs of these infants, including through better interagency coordination. 
Several legislative efforts were cited as possible contributors. These included an increased focus on timely permanency planning (a major focus of the Adoption and Safe Families Act [ASFA] of 1997), required communication between health care providers and child protection agencies for children born with substance exposure (added to CAPTA as part of its 2003 reauthorization, P.L. 108-36 ), and more than 20 years of federal support, provided under the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act ( P.L. 100-505 , as amended), for local projects to serve abandoned infants and children, and their families in communities across the nation.
Beginning with its extension in 1996, funding for Abandoned Infants Assistance has been a part of legislation that reauthorizes CAPTA. Most recently the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-320 ) extended discretionary funding authority for the program at $45 million for FY2010 and "such sums as may be necessary" for each of FY2011 through FY2015. Congress has not provided funding for this program since FY2015. (See Table 15 .)
While noting the program's success, the Obama Administration in its FY2016 budget sought authority to use these program funds on behalf of a broader range of at-risk infants and toddlers. Congress, instead, chose not to provide funding for this program for FY2016. The Senate Appropriations Committee in its report on Labor-HHS-Education appropriations for FY2016 stated the following:
The Committee recommendation does not include funding for this program. The budget request proposes significantly changing the focus of this program as part of a reauthorization proposal. The Abandoned Infants Assistance program was created in 1988 as a response to an acute child welfare crisis associated with the crack cocaine and HIV/AIDS epidemics of the 1980s. Specifically, the program funded demonstration projects to prevent the abandonment of infants and young children impacted by substance abuse and HIV. As the budget request discusses, over the last several decades, in part because of these demonstration projects, States have implemented more effective community responses to infants and families in these circumstances, the goal of these demonstration projects. 
Appendix A. Recent Funding by Program
 Table A-1 shows the funding amounts appropriated (or obligated) based on the part of the Social Security Act in which they are authorized (Title IV-B or Title IV-E) or their location outside of the Social Security Act (other programs). This mirrors the broad categories included in Table 1 . 
For more detail on funding for programs for which the amount shown below is a total of multiple activities or program components, see Table 3 and Table 4 (Promoting Safe and Stable Families program); Table 7 (Title IV-E foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance); Table 9 (Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, including Education and Training Vouchers); Table 11 (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, or CAPTA, including state grants, discretionary activities, and community-based grants); and Table 13 (Victims of Child Abuse Act, or VCAA, including Children's Advocacy Centers, Court-Appointed Special Advocates, and Child Abuse Training for Judicial Personnel).
Appendix B. Child Welfare Programs by Type of Funding Authority and Sequestration Status
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25 ) included a combination of measures affecting discretionary and mandatory spending that are designed to reduce the federal deficit by a certain amount. With regard to discretionary spending, the BCA established certain spending caps for FY2012-FY2021. The caps provide limits on the total dollar amount of federal spending Congress may appropriate on a discretionary basis. If those caps are exceeded, automatic spending cuts called sequestration must be applied. The BCA has been amended several times. Most recently the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-74 ) increased the level of discretionary spending permitted for both FY2016 and FY2017.
The BCA of 2011 also included certain targets for reductions in mandatory spending and provided that if Congress did not achieve deficit reductions through other means, sequestration must be used to achieve those targets. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-74 ) extended the required sequestration of mandatory spending through FY2025. 
Sequestration Determinations by Fiscal Year
For FY2013 only, sequestration was applied to both discretionary and mandatory accounts. For that year, the sequestration percentage determined necessary to bring nonexempt, nondefense discretionary-funded program spending under the statutory spending cap was 5.0%. Separately, to achieve the deficit reduction targets set in the law, sequestration of nonexempt, nondefense mandatory-funded program accounts was 5.1%. 
For each of FY2014 through FY2017, OMB determined that discretionary appropriations did not exceed the discretionary spending caps for nondefense program. Therefore, sequestration was not required for these discretionary programs. However, sequestration was required for mandatory-funded programs in each of those same years. The OMB issued sequestration orders, effective on the first day (October 1) of each of those fiscal years, which reduced spending for each nonexempt, nondefense mandatory program account by the following amounts: 7.2% for FY2014; 7.3% for FY2015; 6.8% for FY2016; and 6.9% for FY2017.
Sequestration Status by Child Welfare Program
 Table B-1 lists each child welfare program described in this report by its type of funding authority (mandatory or discretionary) and notes whether program funds may be subject to sequestration. If the program is listed as one that may be subject to sequestration, it is referred to as "nonexempt" and is subject to automatic spending cuts in any fiscal year for which OMB determines spending has exceeded the statutory limit. If a program may not be subject to sequestration, it is referred to as "exempt," and automatic spending cuts do not apply to that program in any year. 
Appendix C. Tribes with an Approved Title IV-E Plan
Beginning with FY2010, tribes with a Title IV-E plan approved by HHS may receive direct federal reimbursement for eligible costs related to providing foster care, adoption assistance, and, if they choose, kinship guardianship assistance. As of November 2017, the following 10 tribes/tribal entities had such an approved plan:
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe (Kingston, WA) Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Pablo, MT) South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (Shelton, WA) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (Baraga, MI) Navajo Nation (Window Rock, AZ) Chickasaw Nation (Ada, OK) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (Cherokee, NC) Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Tucson, AZ) Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (near Smith River, CA) Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (Scottsdale, AZ)
Appendix D. States with Approval to Extend Title IV-E Assistance up to Age 21
Beginning with FY2011, states and any other jurisdiction operating a Title IV-E program were permitted to amend their Title IV-E plans to allow federal assistance (foster care, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship assistance) to be provided to otherwise eligible youth up to their 19 th , 20 th , or 21 st birthday. To be eligible for this extended Title IV-E assistance, a youth must be in foster care or must have left foster care for adoption or guardianship at age 16 or older.
As of April 2017, 29 jurisdictions, including 23 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 tribal entities had received approval to extend Title IV-E assistance to older youth. Indiana extends Title IV-E assistance to a youth's 20 th birthday. All other jurisdictions listed below currently extend Title IV-E assistance to a youth's 21 st birthday. 
Otherwise eligible youth may continue to receive Title IV-E assistance after their 18 th birthday provided they meet additional eligibility requirements related to participation in education, work, or work preparation (or be documented as unable to participate due to a medical condition). Wisconsin only extends support beyond age 18 if the youth is in high school, and West Virginia, only does so if the youth is in high school or college. All other jurisdictions listed below extend support to older age if youth meets any one or more of the education, work, other participation, or disability criteria. 
States that choose to extend Title IV-E foster care assistance beyond a youth's 18 th birthday must also provide Title IV-E adoption assistance and Title IV-E kinship guardianship assistance (if the state offers that kind of Title IV-E assistance) to the same older age (and under same eligibility requirements) for any child who was aged 16 or older when he or she left foster care for adoption or guardianship.
Appendix E. States with Child Welfare Demonstration (Waiver) Projects 
Twenty-eight jurisdictions, including 26 states, the District of Columbia, and the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, are currently approved to operate 28 child welfare demonstration projects. These demonstrations are often referred to Title IV-E waiver projects. 
Five states (California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) have been operating their waiver projects for roughly a decade or longer. The remaining jurisdictions received approval to operate a waiver project between September 2012 and September 2014, and as of April 2017 have been implementing them for anywhere from a few months to several years. 
Three states that were approved to implement a Title IV-E waiver project between FY2012 and FY2014 (Idaho, Montana, and Texas) subsequently opted not to implement the project, or ended implementation early. Although the exact reasons varied, competing priorities for the child welfare agency and cost concerns appear to have played a role in each state.
 Table E-1 below lists each state with a Title IV-E waiver project operating as of April 2017 and lists the focus of the project as well as its start and (scheduled) end date. For additional information on current projects, see the following resources: 
Detailed Summary Table (updated March 2017) showing by jurisdiction each waiver project's core interventions , target population(s) (e.g., may be limited by age, service need, part of state), key outcomes to be followed, and cost neutrality methodology ; https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/waiver_summary_table_active.pdf .Short report (August 2016) summarizing and categorizing current waiver projects by proposed intervention and evaluation design; includes some discussion of findings from previous waiver projects along with preliminary findings from the current round of projects; http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cw_waiver_summary2016.pdf .
Additional resources, including findings from past projects, are also available from the Children's Bureau waiver site: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/programs/child-welfare-waivers .
Appendix F. Jurisdictions with Approval to Provide Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance 
As of June 2017, jurisdictions (including 35 of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 8 tribal entities) have received HHS approval to provide kinship guardianship assistance under their Title IV-E plans.
Appendix G. Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments
In September 2017, HHS announced incentive payments earned by states for their performance in FY2016. As shown below, states earned more than $55.2 million in incentive payments, a record for the program. However, at the time of its announcement HHS had only about $5.3 million on hand to make these payments. This amount was distributed to states on a prorated basis (so that each state received roughly 10% of the amount it earned for its FY2016 performance). The $5.3 million awarded to states in September 2017 was the total of program funds that remained after HHS completed awarding states $41.1 million for their success at increasing the rate of adoptions and legal guardianships during FY2015. That amount was paid out in September 2016 (using $8.6 million in FY2016 program funding) and in June 2017 (using $32.5 million in FY2017 funding). 
 Table G-1 shows the amount of incentive funding earned in FY2016 by state for each incentive category. The next to the last column shows the total earned for all categories in FY2016 ($55.2 million), and the final column shows the amount of that total that was paid as of September 30, 2016 ($5.3 million). Assuming full-year FY2018 appropriations for Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments are made later this year, HHS may provide more of the outstanding incentive payments earned by states for FY2016 performance. However, unless FY2018 funding for the payments exceeds the recent annual appropriations level of $37.9 million, HHS will not be able to pay the full $49.9 million in outstanding payments earned.