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

This study, conducted in an urban and rural county in two states, Oklahoma and Kentucky, sought to provide a detailed description of how families do or do not connect to services in alternative response system in the two study states. Using data collected from interviews and focus groups with child welfare agency staff, community service providers, and families, the study identified six factors that affect how families connect to needed services, including service network infrastructure, relationships between providers, and service availability, and offered implications as to how these findings could be applied to policy and practice.

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]

In Florida, the foundering economy, mounting program costs, and a philosophy of limited government threaten the vitality of state social services. Different levels of government in Florida have begun maximizing federal dollars in earnest to make an end-run around flat state revenues. The state and the larger counties have sometimes been at odds over federal revenue maximization, however. Under a grant from the Florida Philanthropic Network, we examine Florida's efforts to maximize federal dollars in 11 federal social service programs over the past decade at the state level. These programs include Medicaid, SCHIP, Title IV-E Foster Care, TANF, SSI, and Food Stamps. Where possible, comparisons are made with Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas.

This 50-state table details changes in state spending on abused and neglected children between state fiscal years 1998 and 2000. It includes revenue from federal sources (Title IV-E, Title IV-B, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Social Security Block Grant, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income) and state and local spending. Collectively, states spent at least $20 billion on child welfare services in SFY 2000, a 20 percent increase from SFY 1998. The largest increase was seen in spending from federal funds, primarily TANF and Title IV-E, raising the federal share of total spending to 49 percent from 45 percent in SFY 1998.

This 50-state map highlights the percent change in state spending on abused and neglected children between state fiscal years 1998 and 2000. All but six states increased spending on child welfare during that period. Five states increased spending by more than 40 percent.

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.

Highlights some of the findings from the Urban Institute's 2001 Child Welfare Survey; $20 billion was spent on child welfare services in state fiscal year 2000, of which $2.3 billion came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.

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