On Saturday, March 23, 2024, President Biden signed the final six appropriations bills into law, bringing the drawn-out FY 2024 appropriations process to a close at last. Although government funding ran out at midnight on Friday March 22, because it was a weekend and the bill was signed quickly, the impact of the brief government shutdown was minimal.

The package of bills, which totaled $1.2 trillion and included the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill that holds most human services funding, was unveiled by top Appropriations Chairs and Ranking Members late Thursday afternoon, one day before the deadline. On Friday, the bill passed the House 286-134 with more Democratic than Republican votes and triggered a revolt among conservative House Republicans. The package passed the Senate early Saturday with a 74-24 vote after a long negotiation over additional policy votes with hard-right senators.

The vast majority of human service programs that serve children and families were flat-funded, with a few receiving small cuts or increases. A notable win was in child care and early learning: Congressional Appropriators, especially child care champions Senator Murray (D-WA) and Representative DeLauro (D-CT), fought hard for increased investments for these programs, including:

  • $8.75 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), an increase of $725 million over FY23;
  • $12.27 billion for Head Start, an increase of $250 million; and
  • $75 million for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS)—rejecting House Republicans’ proposal to eliminate the program

Other notable child welfare and child wellbeing programs include:

  • CAPTA Titles I and II were flat-funded: $105,091,000 for Title I state grants, and $70,660,000 for Title II.
  • Promoting Safe and Stable Families discretionary funding was cut by $14 million, from $86,515,000 to $72,515,000 – specifically, Kinship Navigator programs were cut by $10 million and $4 million was cut from the Title IV-E Clearinghouse.
  • $53 million for the Adoption Opportunities program in FY 2024, a $2 million increase for the evaluation of programs to support adoption arrangements at risk of a disruption or dissolution.