RE: child welfare research

["Radel, Laura (HHS/ASPE)" <Laura.Radel@xxxxxxx>]

Trudy is correct that many years ago there used to be a line item in the
ACF budget for child welfare research.  After several years of zero
funding, the item was dropped from the budget requests.  I don't recall
exactly when the appropriation stopped, but believe it was in the early
1990s.  The legislative authority still exists within section 426 of the
Social Security Act.

Most child welfare research in the ACF budget these days comes either
from direct appropriations for specific studies (e.g. NSCAW, the 4th
National Incidence Study on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the Chafee
Program evaluation, all of which are administered as contracts by the
Office for Planning, Research and Evaluation within ACF), or from two
somewhat broader research authorities:  (a) discretionary research and
demonstration authority on child abuse and neglect authorized under
section 104 of CAPTA; and (b) a set aside for research, evaluation and
technical assistance that's part of the Promoting Safe and Stable
Families Program (the set aside of $6 million annually appears in
section 436 of the Social Security Act).  Also, provisions within the
now-expired authority for child welfare waiver demonstrations required
evaluations, the costs of which were shared between the federal and
state governments and claimed through the title IV-E program.  Several
of those evaluations continue, though there is no longer authority for
new waiver demonstrations.  

There are currently no general child welfare research and evaluation
funds appropriated to ACF.  The only one of the authorities above that
includes researcher-initiated type grants is the CAPTA authority, and
that's focused on child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment and
doesn't extend to foster care and adoption research.

I hope this information is helpful to folks.

Laura Radel
Senior Social Science Analyst
Division of Children and Youth Policy
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Laura.Radel@hhs.gov