FAMILIES FOR ALL: DOING RIGHT BY CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE
American children are not languishing in or aging out of foster care
because of a lack of parenting resources. There are 500 married couples in
America for every child waiting to be adopted, and countless singles that
could also provide loving families, says Thomas Atwood, President and CEO of
the National Council for Adoption (NCFA).
The inflexibility of child welfare financing is one factor behind the long
wait times for those in the system and the record number of children aging
out:
- Under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, 61 percent of all federal
financing allocated to states for child welfare purposes is spent on
maintaining children in foster care and for related administrative and
training costs.
- This limits states' resources for other important services, such as
prevention and rehabilitation.
- Furthermore, only children whose original families meet the outdated,
1996 income eligibility requirements for the now-defunct Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) program are Title IV-E eligible.
- As these eligibility requirements have never been adjusted for
inflation, fewer children are Title IV-E eligible each year, which continues
to increase states' share of the costs.
Title IV-B of the Social Security Act is the second largest source of
federal child welfare funding after Title IV-E.
- Unlike Title IV-E, Title IV-B covers prevention and rehabilitation
services and has no eligibility requirements.
- However, Title IV-B is a capped entitlement program, whereas Title IV-E
is open-ended.
- Thus, Title IV-E represents a much larger pool of funding than Title
IV-B -- $7.8 billion versus $721 million in 2006.
This asymmetric funding structure gives states a clear financial incentive
to move children into foster care and keep them there, says Atwood.
Source: Families Thomas Atwood, "For All: Doing Right By Children In Foster
Care," American Legislative Exchange Council, December 2007