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Child Welfare Financing Reform

Child Welfare Financing Reform. Foster Family-Based Treatment Association’s 20 th Annual Conference. Context for Reform – Many Abused & Neglected Children Get No Services.

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Child Welfare Financing Reform

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  1. Child Welfare Financing Reform Foster Family-Based Treatment Association’s 20th Annual Conference

  2. Context for Reform – Many Abused & Neglected Children Get No Services • 40% of children whose situations are reported, investigated and abuse or neglect is found, get no services – no counseling, no foster care – nothing!! • This does not include the number of children who are maltreated but get no services because they are not even reported or investigated • To provide those 40% who are substantiated and still get no services with a basic home-visiting package would cost an additional $1 billion plus annually Center for Law & Social Policy

  3. Context for Reform – Many Children & Families Get Inadequate Services • The fact that 60% of children who have substantiated cases are getting some post-investigation service does not mean they are getting what they need • For example, one national study found that about 50% of children involved with the child welfare system have clinically significant behavioral or emotional problems, but less than 25% receive mental health treatment • For example, as many as 2/3 of the parents of children in foster care need substance abuse treatment, but only about 1/3 get the services they need Center for Law & Social Policy

  4. Overview of Child Welfare Spending: • Over $23 billion was spent on child welfare in 2004 • These funds are a combination of federal, state and local funds. • Five funding streams contribute the bulk of federal funding for child welfare services Center for Law & Social Policy

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  7. Title IV-E Foster Care – the National Picture • About 46% of children in foster care were eligible for Title IV-E in 2003. • Maintenance payments accounted for about 40% of the IV-E foster care claims in 2004. • Administrative and child placement services accounted for about 49% of the IV-E foster care claims in 2004. • Training accounted for about 5% of the IV-E foster care claims in 2004. • Expenditures under waivers accounted for 3% of IV-E foster care claims in 2004. Center for Law & Social Policy

  8. Fiscal Context for Financing Reform: • States vary widely in use of federal, state and local dollars • States vary widely in use of different federal funding streams • States vary widely in proportion of the caseload that is eligible for Title IV-E • States vary widely in use of Title IV-E components Center for Law & Social Policy

  9. Examples of Variation: • Federal funds accounted for 77% of child welfare expenditures in Mississippi but accounted for only 27% of such expenditures in Indiana. • State funds made up 67% of child welfare expenditures in Delaware, but only 11% in Indiana. • Local funds contributed to 62% of child welfare expenditures in Indiana, while such funds accounted for no child welfare expenditures in a number of states. Center for Law & Social Policy

  10. Additional Examples of State Variation: • Title IV-E funds accounted for 89% of federal child welfare funds in Maine, but accounted for only 15% of such funds in Alabama. • Rhode Island relied on Medicaid for 62% of it’s federal child welfare funds, while eight states used no Medicaid funds. • TANF contributed to 51% of the federal child welfare expenditures in Connecticut, while TANF contributed nothing in eight states. Center for Law & Social Policy

  11. Other Variation Across States: • In Illinois, 95% of children in foster care were eligible for IV-E, while only 9% were eligible in Alaska. • In Utah, child placement and administrative expenses constituted 68% of IV-E foster care claims, while such expenditures accounted for only 8% in West Virginia. • Maintenance payments accounted for 85% of IV-E foster care claims in West Virginia, but only 15% of such claims in Alaska. Center for Law & Social Policy

  12. Principles of Reform: • Provide increased access to the full continuum of services – from prevention, to quality foster care, to aftercare. • Permit states sufficient flexibility to tailor services to the needs of individual children and families. • Enhance accountability – better reporting of spending and outcomes for children and families. • Maintain or increase protections for children. Center for Law & Social Policy

  13. Administration’s Budget Proposal to Block Grant Foster Care: • Gives states the option to accept a cap on federal foster care maintenance, training, administration and child placement funds in exchange for promises of greater flexibility and reduced administrative burden • Appears to maintain entitlement to adoption assistance and continues link to AFDC to determine eligibility • Permits broad use of capped funds Center for Law & Social Policy

  14. Administration’s Budget Proposal to Block Grant Foster Care: • Permits use of TANF contingency fund to address a severe foster care crisis • Purports to maintain child safety protections in ASFA but enforceability threatened • States would be required to continue to participate in the Child and Family Service Reviews • Purports to require states to continue existing levels of state investment in child welfareprograms • Purports to be cost neutral, but detailed budget tables show costs Center for Law & Social Policy

  15. Recommendations of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care: • Maintain entitlement to foster care maintenance payments and make them available to all children, while reducing the federal match rate by 35% • Maintain entitlement to adoption assistance payments and make them available to all children with special needs, while reducing the federal match by 35% • Open Title IV-E to cover subsidized guardianships Center for Law & Social Policy

  16. Additional Pew Commission Recommendations: • Combine Title IV-B funds, Title IV-E training, administrative & child placement funds and add $200 million to create a new indexed Safe Children, Strong Families Program • Permit transfer of “unused” foster care funds to the Safe Children, Strong Families Program & require states to match transferred funds Center for Law & Social Policy

  17. Leave No Abused or Neglected Child Behind HR 3576 • Opens IV-E to all children (“delinks”) and reduces the federal match rate • Opens IV-E to services that decrease number of children in foster care; decrease length of stay in foster care; increase placements in family-like settings and increase the well-being of children in care • Opens IV-E to Indian tribes • Opens IV-E to subsidized guardianships • Provides grants for enhancing the child welfare workforce Center for Law & Social Policy

  18. For Additional Information, Contact: Rutledge Q. Hutson Senior Staff Attorney Center for Law and Social Policy 1015 15th Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 202-906-8007 Fax: 202-842-2885 E-mail: rhutson@clap.org Web: www.clasp.org Center for Law & Social Policy

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