With the unveiling of the Republican coronavirus # 3, CWLA submitted a letter to Congress outlining some key child welfare concerns. It is challenging to make such recommendations because it isn’t clear how current practice and needs will change, and it isn’t clear how much Congress will spend in this third round of emergency funding.
The CWLA letter calls for any Medicaid FMAP increase to continue to extend to Title IV-E programs, which are also funded at that same FMAP. The Wednesday coronavirus package increased the FMAP by 6.2 percent. The letter also calls for more funding through Title IV-B child welfare services, $1 billion in CAPTA funding for the two main titles, significant increases in the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) with a set-aside for tribal governments, temporary increases in Chafee funding for youth exiting foster care, extending the foster care option to 21 in all fifty states with it expanded eligibility standards, and increases in TANF to assist people in need of cash assistance and the need to address child-only relative caregivers.
The Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth also released a letter calling for increased funding for the Chafee program along with increases for education and training vouchers to address, in part, the needs of homeless youth on college campuses who may not have a place to go to if the campus shuts down.
The Social Services Block Grant Coalition (SSBG), which CWLA Co-Chairs, along with Generations United, and the National Adult Protective Services Association, also delivered a letter in support of more SSBG funding. SSBG has been a key emergency measure during hurricanes with funding usually targeted according to states that are hit hardest by a hurricane. It is a flexible human services fund that can assist in child welfare, adult protective, and domestic violence services and aging services.
The National Child Abuse Coalition, CWLA serves as a longtime member, delivered a letter that highlighted the need for greater funding for CAPTA state grants, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP), Title IV-B funding increases as well as $100 million for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and $30 million for the Court Improvement Program (CIP).