Fiscal Year 2010 Budget in Brief

Administration for Children and Families: Entitlement Spending

(dollars in millions)

^/1 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) extended the TANF Supplemental Grants through FY 2010.
^/2 In FY 2006, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 extended the availability of unobligated Contingency Fund balances through FY 2010. The FY 2009 beginning balance was $1.3 billion. ACF estimates that at the end of FY 2009 the fund will be exhausted.
^/3 The Recovery Act established a pre-appropriated $5 billion TANF Emergency Contingency Fund to address rising costs related to basic assistance and other related services. Unobligated FY 2009 balances are carried forward to FY 2010.
^/4 The Recovery Act provision increasing the FMAP rate is effective FY 2009 through the first quarter of FY 2011. FY 2010 budget authority does not reflect these additional three months in FY 2011.
^/5 Beginning in FY 2009, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 provides $15 million per year for Family Connection Grants.
^/6 The FY 2008 Supplemental Budget included $600 million for SSBG to help States affected by Presidentially declared major disasters in 2008.
^/7 The FY 2010 Budget assumes that the mandatory abstinence education will not be reauthorized and a newly authorized teen pregnancy prevention initiative is proposed. See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.
^/8 The President's Budget includes a new mandatory program for Home Visitation that assumes an increase in budget authority and resulting outlays over ten years.
^/9 The President's Budget includes a new mandatory funding trigger for LIHEAP. See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.

Note: ACF Entitlement Spending in outlays is displayed on the ACF Entitlement - Outlays Overview table, found at the conclusion of this chapter.

The FY 2010 Budget request for ACF Entitlements is $34.3 billion, a net increase of $672 million from the FY 2009 funding level. ACF serves the Nation’s most vulnerable populations through entitlement programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care Entitlement to States, Child Support Enforcement, Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, Independent Living, Guardianship Assistance, and Promoting Safe and Stable Families.

The increase in budget authority for FY 2010 is due to implementation of provisions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (P.L. 111-5) and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), as well as proposals for mandatory Home Visitation, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, and LIHEAP programs.

TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF)

On February 8, 2006, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) (P.L. 109-171) reauthorized TANF through FY 2010. TANF provides approximately $17.1 billion annually to States, Territories, and eligible Tribes to support low income working families. States have enormous flexibility under TANF to determine their own eligibility criteria, benefit levels, and types of services and benefits available to TANF recipients. In addition, States may transfer up to a combined 30 percent of their TANF funding to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), with not more than 10 percent transferred to SSBG.

Since welfare reform was enacted through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), States are spending less on cash assistance and more on education and training, child care, and other work supports to help families achieve self-sufficiency. In 1998, States spent 63 percent of combined State and Federal funds on cash assistance, compared to 34 percent in FY 2007.

The economic crisis has put an enormous pressure on low income working families and TANF. The Recovery Act made several temporary changes to the TANF program to help States facing rising expenditures for TANF and other low-income families. The law created a new two-year, $5 billion emergency contingency fund for states facing increased spending on cash assistance and other related services for low-income families. It also extended the TANF Supplemental Grants through FY 2010, temporarily allows certain adjustments to the caseload reduction credit, and permanently expands use of TANF carry-over funds.

CHILD CARE ENTITLEMENT TO STATES (CCES)

The FY 2010 Budget includes $2.9 billion for the CCES, a component of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). CCES is composed of mandatory and matching funds. Two percent of the mandatory entitlement funds are reserved for eligible Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations. The program requires States to spend at least 70 percent of CCES on families receiving TANF, transitioning from TANF, or at risk of becoming eligible for TANF. States must also spend a minimum of four percent of all child care funds to improve the quality and availability of healthy and safe child care for all families.

Child Care Performance: ACF continues its efforts to improve the quality of child care providers. In CY 2007, CCDF successfully encouraged 32 States to implement early learning guidelines linked to the education and training of caregivers, preschool teachers, and administrators. This performance exceeds the CY 2007 target of 28 States.

CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT (CSE) AND FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS

CSE is a joint Federal, State, Tribal, and local partnership that seeks to ensure financial and emotional support for children from both parents by locating non-custodial parents, establishing paternity, and establishing and enforcing child support orders. Title IV-D of the Social Security Act establishes child support services that are available for all families with a non-custodial parent, regardless of welfare status. The FY 2010 President’s Budget request is $4.6 billion in net budget authority for CSE and Family Support Programs.

Child support collections play an important role in helping low-income working families. Custodial families that have never received TANF get all child support collected on their behalf. Child support collections on behalf of families receiving TANF and some arrearage collections on behalf of former TANF recipients are shared between the State and Federal Governments as reimbursement for providing TANF benefits. Beginning in FY 2009, the Federal Government now shares in the cost when States opt to distribute more collections directly to current and former TANF families.

The Federal Government shares in the financing of this program by providing matching funds for general State administrative costs and paternity testing, as well as the funding of incentive payments.

The CSE program also includes $10 million annually for grants to States to facilitate non-custodial parents’ access to and visitation with their children. The Recovery Act temporarily allows States to use Federal incentive payments as their State share of expenditures eligible for Federal match in FY 2009 and FY 2010. States receive Federal incentive payments based on their performance in paternity establishment, support order establishment, collection of current support and arrearages, and cost-effectiveness.

Other family support programs funded in this account include Payments to Territories and Repatriation. Payments to Territories funds approximately $35 million in State maintenance assistance programs for eligible aged, blind, and disabled residents of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, per Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

The Repatriation program, authorized by section 1113 of the Social Security Act and the Act of July 5, 1960, provides assistance to United States citizens and their dependents who are returning from foreign countries and are deemed to be destitute, mentally ill, or in need of emergency evacuation due to threatened armed conflict, civil strife, or natural disasters. The cap for this program is $1 million annually.

Child Support Enforcement and Family Support Programs Legislative Proposals: The FY 2010 President’s Budget includes several child support proposals aimed at increasing collections. The proposals also recognize that healthy families need more than financial support alone and increase resources for Access and Visitation Programs to support and facilitate non-custodial parents’ access to and visitation with their children.

In FY 2010, these proposals will cost the Federal Government $3 million, while increasing collections to families by almost $8 million. Over five years, the combined proposals for this account will generate a net Federal cost of $27 million while increasing collections to families by nearly $320 million.

CHILDREN'S RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The FY 2010 President’s Budget includes $58 million for activities in three areas: child support enforcement training and technical assistance; operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) which assists States in locating absent parents; and research on welfare and child well-being. Of the total, $12 million will fund CSE training and technical assistance, and $25 million will support FPLS operations. The remaining $21 million will fund welfare research ($15 million) and continue the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being ($6 million), a longitudinal study on the well-being of children who come into contact with the child welfare system.

FOSTER CARE AND PERMANENCY

The FY 2010 Budget request for the Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, Guardianship Assistance, and Independent Living programs is $7.3 billion in budget authority. These programs, authorized by Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, support safe living environments for vulnerable children and prepare older foster youth for independence.

Of the total Budget request, $4.7 billion in budget authority will support the Foster Care program, including maintenance payments to children. This is a $21 million increase from the FY 2009 level. The proposed level of funding will support approximately 174,300 children each month, about 4,300 fewer children than in FY 2009 as more children, in part due to placement of more children in permanent settings. The FY 2010 Budget also includes $4.5 billion in budget authority for the Adoption Assistance program, which supports families that adopt special-needs children. This is an increase of $91 million over the FY 2009 level. These funds will be used to provide maintenance payments to adoptive families, administrative payments for the costs associated with placing a child in an adoptive home, and training for professionals and adoptive parents. The proposed level of funding will support approximately 426,400 children each month, an increase of 14,600 children over FY 2009.

The Budget also contains $140 million in budget authority for the Independent Living Program, the same as the FY 2009 level. This program funds services for youth who will likely remain in foster care until they turn 18 and for former foster children between the ages of 18 and 21.

A Federal match equal to the Medicaid match rate for medical assistance payments (FMAP) is provided for State maintenance payments for foster care, adoption assistance, and guardianship assistance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Recovery Act temporarily increased the FMAP rate for these title IV-E entitlement programs by 6.2 percentage points. It is estimated that States will receive an additional $806 million between October 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010 due to this provision.

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008: The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351) was enacted on October 7, 2008. The Act amends parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to help connect family members, improve outcomes for children in foster care, provide for Tribal access to Federal foster care and adoption assistance funding, and improve incentives for adoption. The new law:

• Eliminates birth parent income as an adoption assistance eligibility requirement, effectively expanding the pool of eligible youth by 30 percent over nine years;
• Gives States the option to continue Foster Care and Adoption Assistance maintenance payments for youth ages 18-21;
• Permanently appropriates Title IV-E funding for Tribes, including Tribal technical assistance funds;
• Establishes a $15 million Family Connection grants program to help children who are in foster care or at risk of entering foster care reconnect with family members;
• Gives States the option to provide guardianship assistance payments through title IV-E;
• Expands training for child welfare agencies, relative guardians, and court personnel; and,
• Increases the discretionary bonus payments provided to States that increase adoption of children in foster care.

Foster Care and Permanency Performance: The Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Independent Living programs demonstrated success in improving safety, permanency, and well-being of children in FY 2007, the latest year for which complete performance data are available. Working with the States, these programs met the goal of minimizing disruptions to the continuity of family and other relationships for children in foster care by decreasing the number of placement settings per year for a child in care. In FY 2007, over 84 percent of children who had been in care less than 12 months had no more than two placement settings, exceeding the target of 80 percent.

The programs also met goals to provide children in foster care with permanency and stability in their living situations by improving the timeliness of reunification, if possible, and promoting guardianship or adoption when reunification was not possible. In FY 2007, over 42.2 percent of children exited foster care (within two years of placement) either through guardianship or adoption, exceeding the target of 35 percent.

Promoting Safe And Stable Families (PSSF): Promoting Safe and Stable Families is a program designed to assist States in coordinating services related to child abuse prevention and family preservation. This program has two distinct funding streams, one discretionary and one mandatory. The total FY 2010 Budget request for PSSF is $443 million. The mandatory portion of this Budget request provides funding for this capped entitlement at $380 million, the same level as FY 2009.

The Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-288) reauthorized and amended the PSSF program for FY 2007 through FY 2011. The law created two set-asides: $20 million in FY 2010 to support State spending on monthly caseworker visits and $20 million for competitive regional partnership grants to increase the well-being of, and improve the permanency outcomes for, children affected by methamphetamine or other substance abuse. The law also limited administrative costs to 10 percent of the total State expenditures for PSSF, and reauthorized the basic Court Improvement Program without change through FY 2011.

Promoting Safe and Stable Families Performance: In FY 2007 the percentage of children in foster care without a case plan goal was reduced to 4.8 percent, exceeding the goal of 6.4 percent. By increasing the proportion of cases with a case plan goal developed in a timely manner, ACF is helping to ensure that there is a focus on moving children from foster care to a permanent home.

SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT (SSBG)

SSBG is a capped entitlement which provides flexible grants to States for the provision of social services ranging from child care to residential treatment. SSBG is funded at $1.7 billion for FY 2010, which is the same as the FY 2009 funding level. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. SSBG funds are allocated to States according to population size.

Social Services Block Grant Supplemental Funds for FY 2008: The Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 110-329), appropriated $600 million in SSBG Supplemental funds to be allocated to qualifying States affected by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters in addition to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2008. The funds can be used toward the traditional activities allowed under SSBG as well as for health and mental health services, and for repair, renovation and construction of health facilities. Three-fourths of the SSBG Supplemental funds were distributed to States with major disasters declared by the President occurring after January 1, 2008 but before September 30, 2008. The remaining amount was distributed to States recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A total of 20 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico received a portion of the $600 million supplemental funds.

ACF ENTITLEMENT – OUTLAYS OVERVIEW
(outlays in millions)

^/1 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) extended the TANF Supplemental Grants through FY 2010.
^/2 In FY 2006, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 extended the availability of unobligated Contingency Fund balances through FY 2010. The FY 2009 beginning balance was $1.3 billion. ACF estimates that at the end of FY 2009 the fund will be exhausted.
^/3 The Recovery Act established a pre-appropriated $5 billion TANF Emergency Contingency Fund to address rising costs related to basic assistance and other related services.
^/4 The Recovery Act provision increasing the FMAP rate is effective FY 2009 through the first quarter of FY 2011. FY 2010 outlays do not reflect these additional three months in FY 2011.
^/5 Beginning in FY 2009, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 provides $15 million per year for Family Connection Grants.
^/6 The FY 2008 Supplemental Budget included $600 million for SSBG to help States affected by Presidentially declared major disasters in 2008.
^/7 The FY 2010 Budget assumes that the mandatory abstinence education will not be reauthorized and a newly authorized teen pregnancy prevention initiative is proposed. See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.
^/8 The President's Budget includes a new mandatory program for Home Visitation that assumes an increase in budget authority and resulting outlays over ten years.
^/9 The President's Budget includes a new mandatory funding trigger for LIHEAP. See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.

Note: ACF Entitlement budget authority is displayed on the ACF Entitlement - Budget Authority Overview table at the beginning of this section.

ACF ENTITLEMENT LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS
(outlays in millions)

^/1 The President's Budget includes a new mandatory program for Home Visitation that assumes an increase in budget authority and resulting outlays over ten years.
^/2 See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.
^/3 The estimates reflect total Federal impact including collections that reimburse foster care and TANF.
^/4 Reflects ACF administrative costs associated with Treasury Department implementation of the proposal.
^/5 The FY 2010 Budget assumes that the $50 million in mandatory abstinence education will not be reauthorized and a newly authorized teen pregnancy prevention initiative is proposed. See ACF Discretionary Programs Section for further explanation.

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