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March 2012Vol. 13, No. 2Federal Waivers Fund State Programs

A recent report summarizes ways in which States use Federal waivers to allocate some of their title IV-E funding for innovative child welfare programs. The flexibility afforded by the waivers allows States to support approved demonstration programs that promote safety, permanency, and well-being for children in new ways. All waiver programs are cost-neutral to the Federal Government.

The report, Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations, focuses on three types of waiver demonstration projects:

  • Subsidized guardianship/kinship permanence projects provide a monthly subsidy to kinship caregivers who have legal custody of children who would otherwise be in foster care.
  • Flexible funding/capped IV-E allocations projects give local jurisdictions the flexibility to use their child welfare funds for innovative services in exchange for a cap on their IV-E amounts.
  • Services for substance-using caregivers projects use title IV-E moneys to help families in which parental substance abuse puts children at risk.

The report looks at outcomes—including foster care reentry, maltreatment recurrence, preventing out-of-home placement, and more—in States that have completed their demonstration projects as well as States that have ongoing projects.

The full report, prepared by James Bell Associates for the Children's Bureau, is available on the Children's Bureau website:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs_fund/cwwaiver/2011/summary_demo2011.pdf (281 KB)

Related Item

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recently posted a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on proposed information collection for future waiver demonstration proposals. The notice solicits public comment on the ACF proposal to request a letter of intent and a full proposal for waiver demonstration projects. For details, read the announcement:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-02/pdf/2012-2296.pdf  (147 KB)