Earlier this year, President Biden's proposed federal budget included a significant revision of funding for out-of-home placement by increasing rates for kinship care, and reducing rates for residential care. These and additional child welfare provisions are discussed as part of the President's goals for advancing equity:
The Budget proposes reforms to advance child and family well-being throughout the continuum of child welfare services, including by expanding and incentivizing the use of evidence-based foster care prevention services to keep families safely together and to reduce the number of children entering foster care.
Investments in child welfare proposed by President Biden to support these goals include:
- Increasing Title IV-E reimbursement rates for foster and guardianship placements with kin, while maintaining current rates for non-kin foster placements and reducing rates for congregate care placements.
- Increasing funding and adding flexibility to prevention services dollars, including for implementation of Well-Supported and Supported programs in the Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
- Increasing funding for transition-age youth through the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
- Providing new competitive grants for States and localities to advance reforms that would reduce the overrepresentation of children and families of color in the child welfare system and address disproportionate outcomes.
Congress recently passed a Continuing Resolution to maintain current levels of funding through December 16, in order to give the House and Senate more time to reach a final budget agreement.
Read recent coverage of the Biden budget in the New York Times and coverage in the Imprint from earlier this year.