Federal Budget Bill May Reduce Federal Child Welfare Funds to California by Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

Publication Date: January 2006

Publisher: Center for Law and Social Policy

Author(s): Casey Trupin

Research Area: Social conditions

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

Shortly after it returns on January 31, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a budget package already approved by the Senate. This package, called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, contains numerous cuts to human services, including child welfare. California will bear the largest share of the funding losses in the nation.

This paper examines how the budget agreement will affect children and families in California’s child welfare system—particularly, the bill’s financial disincentives to placing children with relatives and time restrictions on federal administrative funds for children in relative care.