Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/CynthiaAndrewsScarcella

This report marks the fifth time the Urban Institute has collected data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding child welfare spending. States spent at least $23.3 billion on child welfare activities in state fiscal year (SFY) 2004, with the increase in total spending between SFYs 2002 and 2004 driven by increases in state and local spending. Our findings highlight why we see such variation in states' financing strategies. Reasons include the availability and use of various nondedicated funding sources, how states use various funding sources, legal or political factors, and how the child welfare agency budget fits into the "big picture" of states' overall financing strategies.

This brief highlights some of the findings from the Urban Institute's 2003 Child Welfare Survey. States spent at least $22 billion on child welfare activities in state fiscal year (SFY) 2002, with increases between SFY 2000 and SFY 2002 coming from all levels of government.

This report marks the fourth time the Urban Institute has collected data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding child welfare spending. Our findings highlight the differences in states' spending patterns and the interaction between federal, state, and local dollars in financing child welfare activities--issues that should be considered during policy and budget debates at the state and national levels. States spent at least $22 billion on child welfare activities in state fiscal year (SFY) 2002, with increases between SFY 2000 and SFY 2002 coming from all levels of government. A rise in TANF and Medicaid spending accounted for nearly all the federal growth. [View the corresponding press release]

This report, commissioned by The National Adoption Day Coalition, provides a national analysis of adoption information collected from the congressionally mandated Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report offers a national compilation, as well state-by-state assessments, of barriers and promising approaches states report at different stages in the adoption process. The stages where most states report barriers include terminating parental rights, recruiting adoptive homes, court case management, child welfare case management, and establishing and changing permanency goals.

This report, commissioned by the Office of Population Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews research conducted about family planning services between 1985 and 2003. Over 240 reports and articles were identified and examined. With input from 30 expert technical advisors, the authors organize the review around the key issues facing the family planning field today: reaching high-priority populations, strengthening family planning practices and improving the organization and administration of services. The report identifies priority directions for future family planning research and suggestions for enhancing the impact of research investments made by the Office of Family Planning.

This report summarizes major findings from our work on family violence for the United Way of Central New Mexico (UWCNM). "Family violence" includes violence between intimate partners (spouses, cohabiting couples, dating couples) and between adult family members and children. We identified the current availability of and significant gaps in services and supports for victims of family violence in the UWCNM service area. We were also alert to the opportunities to develop a coordinated community response to family violence that helps current victims and works to reduce and ultimately eliminate violence among family members. Based on these findings, and drawing on our knowledge of programs and approaches that work in other communities, the report presents suggestions and opportunities on which UWCNM and its community partners could act to achieve their goals.

Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families indicates that 58 percent of children in relative care live with a grandparent. These children tend to be younger and live with older caregivers who have less formal education compared with children in the care of other relatives. Children in grandparent care are more likely to live in poverty and with a caregiver in poor health, but both groups experience similarly high levels of housing problems, food insecurity, and poor caregiver mental health. Grandparents are as likely as other relatives to care for children with health, behavioral or emotional, or school problems. While all are eligible, only 29 percent of children living with grandparents receive foster care or child-only TANF payments.

This study presents the findings of a 2001 survey of state kinship foster care policies, a follow-up to those conducted in 1997 and 1999. The results show that many states are continuing to offer kin leeway in, or alternatives to, the traditional foster care licensing process, yet simultaneously striving to meet the safety requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Almost all states give preference to kin over non-kin foster parents, although states differ in how they assess and support kinship care families. Many states have instituted a stricter policy since the implementation of the ASFA final rule, and there are many kin caring for children in foster care who are not eligible to receive foster care payments.

Researchers asked child welfare administrators in all 50 states and DC how much they spent on child welfare programs in state fiscal year (SFY) 2000, how they spent the money, and where the money came from. States spent at least $20 billion on child welfare service in SFY 2000, a 20 percent increase from SFY 1998. The federal share of total spending increased to 49 percent from 45 percent in SFY 1998. Spurred by the Adoption and Safe Families Act, spending on adoptions, other services, and administration increased. Reliance on nondedicated federal funds (TANF, SSBG, and Medicaid) continued. State administrators expressed concern that budget deficits and declines in TANF funding for child welfare services since SFY 2000 may force cutbacks in an array of child welfare support services.

Based on a survey of state TANF directors in 41 states and DC, researchers conclude that the level of collaboration between TANF and child welfare agencies in many states is a great accomplishment when compared with the limited efforts before welfare reform. For instance, 31 state TANF agencies have provided either written or verbal guidance to local TANF agencies on coordinating TANF work plans with child welfare plans. Twenty of the TANF agencies surveyed have documented policies for sharing information with child welfare agencies; 13 states have colocated TANF and child welfare staff; and 25 created joint planning or steering committees. Addressing the needs of targeted populations -- relative caregivers, sanctioned clients, families approaching time limits, and victims of domestic violence -- has been the impetus for several unique programs described in the brief.

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