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2006 Legislative Hot Topics

Social Services Block Grant

Action

• Reject the President's proposal to reduce funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). The President's budget reduces funding from $1.7 billion to $1.2 billion. SSBG is a major federal source of funding used to prevent child abuse and to support children who have been abused and neglected.

Importance of SSBG for Abused and Neglected Children

SSBG represents 12% of all federal funding states receive from the federal government to provide child abuse prevention, adoption, foster care, child protection, independent and transitional living, and residential services for children and youth. ¹

In FY 2003, states allocated nearly $700 million in SSBG funds for children and youth involved in child welfare. Nationwide, more than 2.6 million children received a range of child welfare services funded in part or in total by SSBG. In 2003 (the latest data available) ²:

• 28 states used a combined $32 million in SSBG funds to provide adoption assistance;
  
  
• 35 states used nearly a combined $332 million in SSBG funds for foster care services to more than 377,000 children. States often use SSBG to pay foster care costs for the board and care of children not eligible for federal Title IV-E foster care assistance;
  
  
• 39 states used more than $217 million in combined SSBG funds to protect children from abuse and neglect;
  
  
• 18 states used a total of $15 million in SSBG funds to provide independent and transitional living services to more than 8,000 youth;
  
  
• $85 million in SSBG funds supported residential treatment to more than 26,000 youth in 22 states; and
  
  
• 17 states used a combined $14.9 million in SSBG funds to help more than 141,000 youth at risk. SSBG funds allow states to cut across the fragmented juvenile justice, mental health, and child welfare systems to give youth the help they need.

Also in FY 2003, child protection and child foster care services accounted for 22% of SSBG expenditures. ³ Thirty-nine states used SSBG funds to provide child protection services, and 35 states used SSBG to provide foster care, mainly for children who were not eligible for Title IV-E federal foster care assistance. More than 8,000 youth benefited from independent living services funded through SSBG funds, 377,000 children received foster care assistance, and more than 175,000 adopted children received assistance that was at least partially funded by SSBG. ⁴

Recent Legislative Activity

Many states rely on SSBG funds to supplement foster care. In February 2006, Congress passed legislation (the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 (DRA)) ⁵ that cut close to $600 million in Title IV-E federal foster care assistance. This cut in Title IV-E funding means that states will need to be able to rely on SSBG to support an even greater share of children in foster care. Many states already use SSBG funds to support foster care placements for the 46% of children in foster care in this country who are not eligible for federal Title IV-E assistance.

Current State Allocations and FY 2007 White House-Proposed Reduction in State Allocations if President's FY 2007 Budget Proposal is Adopted ⁶

Source: Current state allocations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services FY 2007 State SSBG Allocation Table, provided by the American Public Human Services Association.

* Refers to services for the blind in Massachusetts.

Number Of Children Receiving Child Welfare Services Funded By SSBG (2003) ⁷

1. Bess, R., Scarcella-Andrews, C., Jantz, A., Zielewski, E., Warner, L., & Geen, R. (2004). The cost of protecting vulnerable children IV: How child welfare funding fared during the recession. Available online at www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411115. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. back
   
   
2. Social Services Block Grant Program: Annual Report 2003, Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, 2005. back
   
   
3. Administration for Children and Families (ACF). (2005). SSBG 2003: Annual report on expenditures and recipients, 2003. Available online at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ssbg/annrpt/2003/index.html. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). back
   
   
4. Administration for Children and Families (ACF). (2003). SSBG 2003: Annual report on expenditures and recipients, 2003. Available online at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ssbg/annrpt/2003/index.html. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). back
   
   
5. CWLA's full summary and analysis of the Deficit Reduction and Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 is located at http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/fostercare060201.htm. back
   
   
6. American Public Human Services Association. (2006). State allocations from HHS, Office of Community Services FY 2007 state allocation table. Washington, DC: Author. back
   
   
7. Each year, states file a report with HHS projecting how many people were served by SSBG funds in part or in total. SSBG may supplement other federal, state, and local dollars. For example, foster care is funded with local, state, and federal funding from Title IV-E foster care, but some states may need to add to such funding and use SSBG dollars. When states file their reports, they indicate how many children, adults under age 60, and adults over 60 and older are served in a year within a category of service. States also report using SSBG funds for other services, including transportation, residential services, and information and referral, which may benefit children in the child welfare system, but are not listed here. back

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