Download Locations:
Summary:
Child welfare services protect children who have been abused or neglected or are at risk of maltreatment. These services take various forms, ranging from counseling and other supports for parents, which are intended to prevent child abuse and neglect and improve child well-being, to removal of the children from home. At the most extreme, these services include termination of parental rights and placement of the children for adoption. States have the primary responsibility for designing and administering child welfare services. However, the federal government supports these services with significant funds and requires states to comply with certain requirements in order to receive this money. An estimated 879,000 children were the victims of child abuse or neglect in the year 2000. The majority of these children (63%) experienced neglect (alone or in combination with another form of maltreatment). Some children who experience maltreatment are removed from their homes with protective custody given to the state. On the last day of FY2001 an estimated 542,000 children were living in foster care (foster family, group, residential or other kind of home or placement setting). During the first session of the 108th Congress legislation to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and several related programs was introduced in both the House (H.R. 14) and Senate (S. 342) and has subsequently been cleared for floor action in both chambers. On February 13, the House passed H.R. 4, a comprehensive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization proposal, which includes provisions to extend and expand the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to grant child welfare waivers (through FY2008) and includes several other child-welfare related proposals. Additional bills related to child welfare that have been introduced in this Congress, include H.R. 336, which seeks to repeal the current "sunset" provision related to the adoption tax credit; H.R. 443 and S. 331, which would grant tribes new authority to operate foster care and adoption assistance programs under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act; and H.R. 584, which would allow penalty-free withdrawal of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) funds for some qualified adoption expenses. The 108th Congress may also debate other child welfare issues, including the federal financing structure for child welfare services and reauthorization of Adoption Incentives. In his FY2004 budget, President Bush proposes to offer states an "alternative financing system for child welfare." According to Administration budget documents, states choosing to participate would "face fewer administrative burdens and would receive funds in the form of flexible grants." Congress may also consider reauthorization of Adoption Incentives; funding for incentive payments to states that increase the number of adoptions out of their child welfare systems was first authorized for FY1998 and expires with FY2003. The Administration proposes to reauthorize these incentive funds and to amend the program to especially reward adoptions of children age 9 or older. This report describes legislative issues related to child welfare in the 108th Congress and will be updated as needed.
