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Statement on Bush Administration Flexible Funding Proposal

Written Statement of National Council For Adoption Hearing on: Bush Administration Foster Care Flexible Funding Proposal

U.S. House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Human Resources Committee on Ways and Means
June 11, 2003

Chairman Herger, the National Council For Adoption thanks the House Ways and Means Sub-Committee on Human Resources for the opportunity to submit a written statement regarding the important topic of "The Bush Administration Foster Care Flexible Funding Proposal." Although there are details still to be determined, in our view the principles articulated in this proposal would be a significant step forward in America’s efforts to develop new and better ways of serving children in foster care.

The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) is a research, education, and advocacy nonprofit whose mission is to promote the well-being of children, birthparents, and adoptive families, by advocating for the positive option of adoption. Since our founding in 1980, NCFA has been a leader in promoting sound child welfare and adoption policies that make it easier for children to be adopted out of foster care into families, present adoption as a positive option for women with unplanned pregnancies, reduce obstacles to transracial adoption, make adoption more affordable through the tax credit, and facilitate intercountry adoptions. NCFA’s 1996 monograph, "Foster Care: Too Much, Too Little, Too Early, Too Late," by Dr. Carol Statuto Bevan, contributed much to the intellectual basis for the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA).

While reaffirming the commitment to family reunification when appropriate, ASFA clearly established the priority of child safety. ASFA reformed the child welfare system to promote more timely permanency decisions to help prevent children from languishing in foster care. ASFA encourages adoption out of foster care with incentives for states, and it expanded support services to foster and adoptive families. ASFA gave the Department of Health and Human Services tools for producing greater accountability and innovation in the child welfare system.

ASFA’s results have been positive. The number of children adopted out of foster care rose from 31,000 in FY 1997 to 50,000 in FY 2001. ASFA has been a successful policy for tens of thousands of former foster children who would not otherwise have been adopted into their forever families. However, while we have made significant progress in addressing the needs of children in foster care, there is still much to be done. As of September 30, 2001, there were 542,000 children in foster care, of whom 126,000 were waiting to be adopted.

The tide of children needing foster care is, unfortunately, all too steady. Moreover, as we find homes for more children, the children who remain in foster care may tend to be more difficult to place. Not all children will find adoptive homes, especially those who are older. These realities accentuate the need in our child welfare system for increased child and family services in the areas of recruitment, training, and education of adoptive and foster parents, pre- and post-placement counseling and services for children and families, vocational and job training for older foster care populations and for those aging out of foster care, and counseling foster youth for independent living and for prevention of substance abuse and other harmful behaviors.

The Bush Administration took creative steps in addressing the needs of older children in foster care with its initiatives to provide education and training vouchers for youth who age out of foster care and to increase states’ financial incentives for placing for adoption foster children age 9 and up. The vouchers offer youth a chance to extend their education and improve their possibilities of succeeding as self-sufficient adults. States’ increased incentives to place children 9 and up will improve this vulnerable population’s prospects for adoption. The Department of Health and Human Services has found that from age 9 on, a child’s likelihood of remaining in foster care is greater than the likelihood of being adopted.

The President’s foster care flexible funding proposal is a logical next step in addressing the needs of the evolving population of children in foster care. This new Child Welfare Program Option would allow states to maintain the federal funding of their foster care program as is, or to receive these funds as a flexible grant over five years, to support a range of child welfare services. The proposal’s funding flexibility, including the option of up-front funding, offers states the opportunity to be timely and effective in addressing the particular concerns and needs of their respective foster care populations and systems.

The flexible funding proposal is consistent with a proven model for federal-state partnerships: The federal government provides goals, incentives, standards, and accountability; the states determine the best ways to achieve them, given the particular needs and circumstances of their respective states. This model for federal-state partnership has worked in many policy areas and can also work in serving the needs of children in foster care, and of their families and caregivers. The flexible funding proposal recognizes that it does not serve the best interests of children and families for the federal government to dictate a one-size-fits-all policy for our diverse 50 states. The states have important perspectives on the needs of the children and families served by their respective child welfare systems. The federal government must work with the states to make safe and stable homes a reality for all children.

Given the flexibility, states will direct their federal foster care dollars in various ways depending on the particular needs of their respective populations. The flexible funding should be sufficiently inclusive as to allow states to use the funds for such programs and child and family services as:

• Recruitment, training, and education of adoptive and foster parents.
• Pre- and post-placement counseling and services for adoptive and foster children and families.
• Vocational counseling and job training and placement for older foster care children and for those aging out of foster care.
• Counseling foster youth for independent living and prevention of sexual abuse and substance abuse.

If Congress grants states the flexibility recommended in this proposal, states are likely over the next five years to develop creative and effective approaches that address these concerns.

Finally, it should be noted that the proposal provides safeguards against possible negligence of states’ foster care populations by requiring states to: adhere to the child safety protections mandated by ASFA; maintain existing levels of investment in their child welfare programs; and continue to participate in the Administration for Children and Family’s Child and Family Service Reviews. Congress should ensure that the policy is sufficiently inclusive to allow states to spend their federal foster care dollars on the areas of greatest need, such as foster and adoptive family training and recruitment, pre- and post-placement counseling, and vocational training and life skills counseling for older foster children.

President Bush’s flexible funding proposal recognizes the crucial importance of the federal-state partnership in developing effective solutions that meet the needs of children in foster care, and of their families and caregivers. While reducing states’ administrative burdens, it offers states a useful tool to structure their child welfare programs in ways that support the ongoing priorities of safety, timely permanency, and improved well-being for children and families. While protecting against a reduction of resources spent on foster care, the proposal allows states the opportunity to target their foster care resources in ways best suited to their respective populations’ and systems’ needs. The President’s flexible funding proposal is a logical next step for America’s child welfare system.

Respectfully submitted,


Thomas C. Atwood
President