Foster Care Funding and Federal Programs
The Social Security Act contains the primary sources of Federal funds available to States for child welfare, foster care, and adoption activities. These funds include both nonentitlement authorizations (for which the amount of funding available is determined through the annual appropriations process) and authorized entitlements (under which the Federal Government has a binding obligation to make payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law). Family preservation services are intended for children and families, including extended and adoptive families, that are at risk or in crisis. Services include: programs to help reunite children with their biological families, if appropriate, or to place them for adoption or another permanent arrangement; programs to prevent placement of children in foster care, including intensive family preservation services; programs to provide follow-up services to families after a child has been returned from foster care; respite care to provide temporary relief for parents and other care givers (including foster parents); and services to improve parenting skills. The Foster Care Program is a permanently authorized entitlement that provides open-ended matching payments to States for the costs of maintaining certain children in foster care, and associated administrative, child placement, and training costs.
The Federal government provides funds to States to administer child welfare programs. State grant programs have their own matching requirements and allocations, and all require that funds go to and be administered by State child welfare agencies, or in some programs, Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations. In most states foster children are eligible for Medicaid cards which cover medical, dental, and counseling services. Foster parents receive reimbursement for the child's food and clothing. Some states provide a clothing voucher at the time of the child's first placement. Others provide clothing vouchers at the beginning of each school year. Foster children have the same minimum health benefits as children in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Most Federal funds for AFDC and foster children's health care come through Federal Medicaid (Title XIX of the Social Security Act).
