A letter in support of the President’s budget request for greater funding in some child welfare services has collected over 160 organizational sign-ons. The Administration’s FY 2016 budget request includes a number of proposals including the expansion of services to help prevent foster care placements as well as some limited funding for post-permanence funding. The budget request also includes a proposal from last year that would provide incentive funding to better coordinate state Medicaid and child welfare agency services in an attempt to address the over reliance on medications.
The letter says in part:
“ These proposals increase investments in evidence-based prevention and post-permanency
supports for children at risk of entering foster care, encourage the broader use of family-based
care including kinship care rather than congregate care for children and youth, and reduce
overprescribing of psychotropic medications for children and youth in foster care, all areas of
interest to the Committee. As a community, we share the Administration’s vision for improving
the child welfare system and firmly believe that investments in such a broad array of services and
programs will help us to better serve vulnerable children and families.”
A number of prominent national groups including First Focus Campaign for Children, Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA), Generations United (GU), the National Foster Care Coalition, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and Voice for Adoption (VFA) circulated the letter.
