The Children's Bureau administers formula grants to support states and tribes in operating their child welfare systems, including child maltreatment prevention, foster care, adoption, and the information systems necessary to support these programs. States and tribes do not compete for these funds. Rather, they are distributed based on predetermined formulas and eligibility requirements. This section describes the funding provided to states and tribes as well as the plans states and tribes develop outlining how they will implement their child welfare systems.
The Children's Bureau provides matching funds to states, tribes, and communities to help them operate every aspect of their child welfare systems. Funding is provide through titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act as well as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
State & Tribal Child and Family Services Plan
In order to receive federal funding under title IV-B, a state or tribal agency requesting title IV-B funds must submit a 5-year Child and Family Services Plans (CFSP) and Annual Progress and Services Reports (APSRs). The CFSP is a strategic plan that sets forth a state’s or tribe’s vision and goals to strengthen its child welfare system. It outlines initiatives and activities that the state or tribe will carry out over the next 5 years to administer and integrate programs and services to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families. The APSR provides an annual update on the progress made by states or tribes toward the goals and objectives in their CFSPs and outlines the planned activities for the upcoming fiscal year.
Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Awards
The Children’s Bureau provides incentive funding to title IV-E agencies that achieve improved performance in increasing the number of children in foster care who find permanent homes through either adoption or legal guardianship.
The Adoption Incentives program began in fiscal year 1998 as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) and has since been reauthorized several times (as part of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 and, the Fostering Connections and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, as part of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 and, most recently, as part of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018). There have been changes in award calculation and payment amounts over the years. For more information about the incentive award program, see Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI-15-08.
Adoption Incentive Awards History - Includes the cumulative Adoption Incentive earning history by state from fiscal year 1998 to fiscal year 2022.
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