ACF Policy

ACF Issue Briefs advance Secretary Kennedy’s commitment to radical transparency by openly publishing data, statistics, and analysis about ACF’s own programs. These briefs are intended to identify challenges and expose wasteful spending to promote accountability and better stewardship of taxpayer dollars. This page serves as the central repository for all ACF Issue Briefs, which will be regularly released to ensure policymakers and the public have ongoing access to clear information about ACF’s work.

• While often similar in design, home visiting models eligible for MIECHV and Title IV-E Prevention Services reflect the different programmatic goals of child and family wellbeing versus foster care prevention - April 2026
• CSBG Reporting Is Burdensome and Does Not Accurately Describe How Funds Are Actually Used - March 2026
• States Increasingly Promote Kinship Care, though Significant Opportunity Remains for Improving Licensing, Definitions, and Reach: Nearly Two-Thirds of Jurisdictions Have Not Yet Amended Title IV-E Plans to Adopt Separate Licensing Standards - March 2026
• Modernizing Child Welfare Technologies and Tools: Opportunities for Predictive Risk Modeling to Improve Child Safety and Outcomes - March 2026
• Administrative Costs Drive Foster Care Claims and Are Increasing Per Child as Caseloads Decline: Trends in Title IV-E Foster Care Expenditures FY2019-FY2023
• The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Contingency Fund - January 2026

Per the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968 , facilities must be accessible if they’re designed, built, altered, or leased with federal funds. The U.S. Access Board has accessibility standards and enforces the ABA.

To file a complaint:

If you believe that an Administration for Children and Families (ACF) facility doesn’t comply with the ABA, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Access Board.

We encourage engagement with the public and our stakeholders.  To maintain a respectful dialogue and manage expectations, we've posted the guidelines of our comment, privacy, and link policies that apply to all ACF digital platforms and social media channels.

In short:

• Stay focused. All viewpoints are welcome, but comments should remain relevant to the post or content.
• Be respectful. We do not permit personal attacks, profanity, and aggressive behavior on our digital or social platforms. Instigating arguments in a disrespectful way is also prohibited.
• Tell the truth. Spreading misleading or false information is prohibited.
• No spam. Repeated posting of identical or very similar content in a counter-productive manner is barred — this includes posts aggressively promoting services or products.

We retain the discretion to determine which comments violate our comment policy. We also reserve the right to remove and/or not allow comments.

Privacy Policy

We collect no information about you, other than information automatically collected and stored, when you visit our web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.

• View our privacy policy.

As an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services, ACF is committed to complying with OMB/HHS policies that promote efficient and effective spending of appropriated funds.

• HHS Policy on Promoting Efficient Spending (January 23, 2015): Use of Appropriated Funds for Conferences and Meetings, Food, Promotional Items, and Printing and Publications
• FY22 Conference Spending: this report includes information about conferences held by ACF where costs exceed $100,000.

ACF is committed to conducting and using evidence from evaluations to inform policy and practice. ACF seeks to promote rigor, relevance, transparency, independence, and ethics in the conduct of evaluations. Our evaluation policy addresses each of these principles.

• View the evaluation policy