Child Welfare: The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program

Publication Date: January 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Social conditions

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Abstract:

President Bush signed the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001 (H.R. 2873) into law January 17, 2002 (P.L. 107-133). It reauthorizes the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program for 5 years (FY2002-FY2006), sets the program’s annual mandatory funding level at $305 million, and authorizes additional discretionary funds up to $200 million annually. Separately it grants new program authority for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to fund programs that mentor children of prisoners and to expand the Foster Care Independence Program with new money for education and training vouchers. The FY2002 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act (P.L. 107-116) provides $375 million for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program ($305 million mandatory, $70 million discretionary) but does not fund the newly authorized mentoring services for children
of prisoners nor the education and training vouchers. When he signed P.L. 107-133, President Bush announced that his FY2003 budget will request $505 million for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, $25 million for the mentoring program and $60 million for the education and training vouchers.

First created in 1993 (under a different name), the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program (Title IV-B, Subpart 2 of the Social Security Act) provides grants to states for four kinds of child welfare services: family preservation, family support, time-limited family reunification, and adoption promotion and support. Funds are reserved from Safe and Stable’s annual appropriation to allow national evaluations of program activities and for state court grants (to improve child welfare proceedings).

P.L. 107-133 expands the definition of family preservation services under the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program to include infant safe haven programs; clarifies the meaning of family support to include services that “strengthen parental relationships and promote healthy marriages”; provides for reallocation of unused program funds; and states that, out of any discretionary funds appropriated for the Safe and Stable Families Program, 3.3% will be added to the existing $10 million set aside for Court Improvement Grants; 3.3% will be added to the existing $6 million reservation for evaluation, technical assistance, research and training; and 2% will be added to the existing set-aside for Indian tribes (1% of mandatory funds).

The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program is administered by HHS and House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees have jurisdiction. Like Safe and Stable Families, grants to states for child welfare services (Title IV-B, Subpart 1) and Adoption Incentive payments (part of Title IV-E), are under the Social Security Act, have related purposes, and share committee jurisdictions. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (expired with FY2001, but received FY2002 funding) authorized programs that share goals with Safe and Stable Families, but is under House Education and Workforce and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions jurisdiction. Finally, the Strengthening Abuse and Neglect Courts Act, under Senate and House Judiciary committees jurisdiction, authorizes grants to improve handling of child welfare cases. They are to be administered, primarily, by the Department of Justice and received initial funding of $2 million in FY2002.