The Administration proposes the same level of funding for the two CAPTA-related grants for FY 2021 with an increase in one of the grants. State Grants would be funded at $90 million, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) grants would be funded at $55 million, and CAPTA Discretionary Grants would be increased by $16 million to $51 million. . The budget also includes a continuation of $75 million for the Adoption/Kinship Incentive fund and $42 million for Adoption Opportunities.
The Administration proposes to use the $16 million for demonstration projects to “test the effectiveness of a multi-system approach to strengthen family capacity and to prevent child abuse and neglect before it occurs. Under a multi-system approach, partnerships – of public and private agencies, parents, community members, and others – will further develop centers that co-locate services to address risk factors for child maltreatment.”
In 2018 and 2019, as part of the budget agreement and opioid-related legislation, CAPTA state grants were increased by $60 million, bringing it to its historic high of $85 million. Last year, CWLA and other advocates, successfully worked toward an additional increase of $5 million. The total of $90 million for state grants under CAPTA is more than triple funding level in 2017.
A funding increase for both CAPTA state grants and CB-CAP will be a top CWLA priority at our National Conference on Thursday, March 26.
Regarding adoptions, the Administration highlights its “Call to Action” in adoption. To promote adoptions, they have “launched this call for states and stakeholders to develop key partnerships across public and private groups, including faith-based groups, to reduce the number of children in foster care and increase the number of children who find a forever family, through adoption or otherwise.” The budget does not include new funding but says that they are encouraging efforts and research to identify and address barriers to adoption.
The initiatives they highlight “include family-finding programs, focusing on identifying the barriers that exist in the recruitment and development of foster and adoptive families, and the development and dissemination of court-related practice improvements addressing barriers to timely adoptions.”
