Volume 7, Number 2
In this Issue:
President Releases Proposed FY 2009 Budget
-----PCA America’s Legislative Priorities
-----Other Programs for Children and Families
PCA America and Kids Are Waiting Release Reports on Prevention
NCSL and Children’s Bureau Issue New Report on State Child Welfare Legislation
President Releases Proposed FY 2009 Budget
On February 4th, President Bush submitted his FY 2009 budget request to Congress, marking the official beginning of the budget season. The proposed budget is very similar to what was requested for FY 2008, with discretionary spending for many domestic programs level-funded or cut. In particular, the programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have again been targeted for reductions in spending as part of the Administration’s plan for balancing the budget by 2012. The overall budget of HHS, which includes the majority of programs that focus on the well-being of children and families, would be cut by 2.4 percent in the President’s proposed budget. Following is a summary of how key programs related to the prevention of child abuse and neglect fared.
President's FY 2009 Funding Requests for PCA America's Legislative Priorities
SSBG Cut by $500 million and Slated for Elimination in FY 2010
The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a capped entitlement that funds a range of social services, including child abuse prevention. The President proposes to cut SSBG by $500 million in FY 2009, and to eliminate funding for the block grant in FY 2010.
FY 2008 Funding Level: $1.7 billion
President’s FY 2009 Proposal: $1.2 billion in FY 2009, elimination in FY 2010
PCA America’s FY 2009 Request: Maintain full funding at $1.7 billion
CAPTA Level Funded at $105 million
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) embodies the federal commitment to preventing child maltreatment, but has not been funded adequately to meet the demand for community-based prevention programs.
- Level Funds CAPTA State Grants at $26.5 million.
State grants provide funds for states to improve child protective services.
FY 2008 Funding Level: $26.5 million
President’s FY 2009 Proposal: $26.5 million
PCA America’s FY 2009 Request: Provide no less than full funding, currently authorized at $84 million
- Level Funds CAPTA Community-Based Grants at $41.6 million.
These grants help states develop and implement effective approaches to preventing child abuse and neglect.
FY 2008 Funding Level: $41.6 million
President’s FY 2009 Proposal: $41.6 million
PCA America’s FY 2009 Request: Provide no less than full funding, currently authorized at $65 million
- Level Funds CAPTA Discretionary Research and Demonstration Grants at $37 million.
These grants fund data collection, technical assistance, and grant-funded research and demonstration projects.
FY 2008 Funding Level: $37 million, $10 million of which is for a Home Visiting Initiative
President’s FY 2009 Proposal: $37 million, $10 million of which is for a Home Visiting Initiative
PCA America’s FY 2009 Request: Provide no less than $37 million, with $10 million designated for the Home Visiting Initiative
CAPTA Home Visiting Initiative:
Within the research and demonstration grants, the President’s budget includes $10 million for second year funding for the “Home Visitation Initiative.” Budget documents indicate that this additional funding will be used for “competitive grants that encourage States to use existing funding sources to implement and sustain proven effective, home visitation programs.” In last year’s budget, the President had requested $10 million for “nurse home visitation programs.” Congress appropriated the funds but instructed the Administration to make funding available to a range of evidence-based home visitation programs. The language in the President’s FY 2009 budget reflects this more inclusive approach. | |
PSSF Discretionary Grant Level Funded at $63 Million
Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) grants help states pay for family support, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption support. The PSSF core discretionary grant is authorized at $200 million. Congress provided just $63 million for the PSSF discretionary grant in FY 2008, $25 million less than was provided the year before, and $137 million short of the authorized level. The President proposes continuing to fund the discretionary portion of PSSF at the FY 2008 level of $63 million.
FY 2008 Funding Level: $63 million, a $25 million cut from the previous year
President’s FY 2009 Proposal: $63 million
PCA America’s FY 2009 Request: Fund at the fully authorized level of $200 million
Proposes State Option to Block Grant Foster Care Funding
The President’s budget request again proposes to give states the option of receiving title IV-E foster care funds as a block grant. Currently, title IV-E is an uncapped entitlement program in which funding is provided based on the number of children eligible to receive the foster care dollars. Funding levels increase and decrease automatically based on need. Block granting the program would provide states with more flexibility in how they use their dollars, but would cap the amount of funding that states could receive.
Prevent Child Abuse America has endorsed a different approach to child welfare financing that would enable states to make a greater investment in prevention, while maintaining the entitlement. More details are available at: http://www.clasp.org/publications/changes_cw_law.pdf.
SCHIP Reauthorization
After several failed attempts to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) last year, Congress passed an extension of the current SCHIP authorization through March 2009. Congress is expected to take up reauthorization again this year, and, like last year, funding figures to be a prominent part of the debate. In last year’s budget proposal, the President requested a $5 billion increase to the program over five years when reauthorized. This year, the President requests a $19.7 billion increase spread over 5 years.
The proposals Prevent Child Abuse America supported last year included increases that ranged from $35 billion to $50 billion over five years. We urge Congress to reauthorize SCHIP this year with the goal of seeing legislation enacted that increases children’s access to health care.
President's Funding Requests for Other Programs for Children and Families
Child Care Level Funded: Like PSSF, the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) consists of a mandatory funding stream, and a discretionary funding stream. The President’s request level-funds child care mandatory funding at $2.9 billion and discretionary funding at $2.1 billion.
Community Services Block Grant Eliminated: CSBG is currently funded at $698 million. The block grant provides grants to local programs designed to alleviate poverty by helping poor people obtain the resources and skills necessary to become economically independent. The President has repeatedly eliminated funding for CSBG in his annual budget requests, but Congress has continued to appropriate funding for it anyway.
Compassion Capital Fund Increased: The FY 2009 budget provides $75 million for the Compassion Capital Fund to provide training and capacity-building and technical assistance for grassroots faith-based and community-based organizations. This request represents a $22 million increase over the FY 2008 appropriated level. $35 million of the total allocation is directed towards the Communities Empowering Youth Program to help youth at risk of gang influence and involvement.
Early Childhood Programs Eliminated: The President’s FY 2009 budget request eliminates funding for a number of early childhood programs including: Even Start; Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs); and Foundations for Learning. Even Start funding for FY 2008 is $66.5 million; PIRCs funding is $38.9 million, and Foundations for Learning is $1 million.
Food Stamp Eligibility Changes Proposed: As it did last year, the Administration’s budget proposes eliminating Food Stamp eligibility for approximately 300,000 low-income working families by changing the eligibility criteria for the program and eliminating many of the conditions under which states have previously been permitted to waive eligibility requirements for certain applicants.
Head Start Increased, but Funding Short of New Authorized Level: The President’s FY 2009 budget request provides $7 billion, a $148 million increase over FY 2008 allocation. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the President’s request is $623 million shy of the amount authorized by Congress last year.
Healthy Marriage and Family Formation Fully Funded: TANF reauthorization enacted in early 2006 authorized $150 million per year for 5 years in competitive grants to develop and implement healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood programs. Up to $50 million per year of that allocation may be used for fatherhood initiatives. The Administration proposes fully funding these grants at $150 million in FY 2009.
Juvenile Justice Programs Cut and Consolidated: As he did last year, the President proposes to eliminate the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and consolidate juvenile justice programs into one block grant called the Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Program. The President proposes to fund this new block grant at $185 million. If enacted, this would result in a $72 million cut from FY 2008 funding levels.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Cut by $570 million: LIHEAP consists of two funding streams, a block grant distributed based on a formula to all states, and a contingency fund that targets states in emergency situations. The Administration’s budget proposal cuts the state formula grants by $280 million and the contingency fund by $290 million. This program provides critical financial assistance to millions of our nation’s low-income families so that they can cover heating and cooling costs for their homes.
PCA America and Kids Are Waiting Release Reports on Prevention
Child Abuse and Neglect Costs Nation Over $100 Billion Per Year
On January 29th, PCA America and Kids Are Waiting -- a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts -- released two reports highlighting the need to invest more funding in preventing child abuse and neglect from occurring in the first place.
Total Estimated Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States, by Prevent Child Abuse America and Time for Reform: Investing in Prevention, Keeping Children Safe At Home, by Kids Are Waiting, show that while the economic costs associated with child abuse and neglect rose to a staggering $103.8 billion in 2007, merely ten percent of federal money dedicated for child welfare, approximately $741.9 million, can currently be used to prevent child abuse and neglect from occurring by strengthening families.
PCA American and Kids Are Waiting held a press conference in Washington DC on the morning of the 29th, followed by a symposium that afternoon. The organizations emphasized that prevention should not be an after-thought, but rather a key element in policy deliberations and a new way of thinking about engaging communities in addressing the role of prevention and the need for strengthening all at-risk families regardless of income and circumstances.
In addition to the events, PCA America and Kids Are Waiting partners met with approximately 100 congressional offices over the course of two days to share information from the reports and to urge Congress to create a child welfare financing system that would enable states to invest more funding into prevention efforts.
Both reports and a transcript of the press conference are available at: http://www.preventchildabuse.org/about_us/press_room.shtml.
NCSL and Children’s Bureau Issue New Report on State Child Welfare Legislation
On behalf of the Children’s Bureau, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has produced a new report entitled State Child Welfare Legislation: 2006. This publication documents a broad range of state legislation relating to child welfare issues enacted in 2006 (the most recent year for which their comprehensive report is available). The report covers 19 categories of legislation, including a section on the prevention and treatment of child abuse. It also includes citations and summaries of specific child-welfare-related laws in each state. The full text of the report can be downloaded at:
<http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/childwelfarelaws06.htm>
|
