NASW Government Relations Action Alert

May 5, 2006

House to Begin Appropriations Process – Please Contact Your Legislators Today!

THE ISSUE

Congress took a two week recess in April without agreement on a budget resolution for 2007.   With Republican moderates and conservatives in the House still at odds over spending priorities, fiscal policy may continue to exasperate legislators on Capitol Hill.  Nevertheless, the House Appropriations Committee will soon begin marking up its fiscal year 2007 spending bills, regardless of whether Congress reaches agreement on a budget resolution.  Under the Budget Act, appropriators can bring spending bills to the House floor after May 15 if Congress has failed to adopt a final budget resolution by that time. The Senate adopted its initial budget in March, but the House budget has not made it to the floor because of disagreements among the Republican factions.

The appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education are expected to come for floor votes later in the summer or even September.

The President’s FY 2007 budget proposes level funding for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) basic state grants at $27 million, for CAPTA community-based prevention grants at $42 million, and for CAPTA discretionary research and demonstration grants at $26 million. 

ACTION NEEDED

Please contact your Senators and Representatives on the appropriations subcommittees listed below.  Urge them to increase support for child abuse and neglect prevention and child protection at the levels proposed by President Bush two years ago.

Call your Members of Congress through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121).

Message

As a constituent, a social worker, and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, we urge Congress to appropriate funding in FY2007 for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) programs at the level of $142 million to:

• Support CAPTA basic state grants at the President’s FY05 request of $42 million.
  
• Support CAPTA community-based prevention grants at the FY05 request of $65 million.
• Support CAPTA research and demonstration grants at the authorized level of $35 million.

Make these additional points:

1. At current funding levels, child protection agencies are unable to serve almost half the abused and neglected children in their caseloads.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports close to 900,000 children abused and neglected in the U.S.  An estimated 1,500 children die of abuse or neglect each year; children under age 4 account for three-quarters of these fatalities.  Average caseloads for child protection workers are double the recommended caseload.  Close to 40 percent of children who were abused or neglected receive no treatment or services. 
2. For every federal dollar spent on foster care and adoption subsidies, we spend less than 10 cents in federal child welfare funding on preventing and treating child abuse and neglect.  Preventing child abuse is cost effective.  A Government Accountability Office evaluation of child abuse prevention efforts found "total federal costs of providing prevention programs for low-income populations were nearly offset after four years."  Community prevention services to overburdened families are far less costly than the damage inflicted on children from abuse and neglect.
3. Current funding levels short-change community efforts to develop innovative programs to service children and families and to improve our knowledge about child maltreatment.  At current funding, HHS is able to fund only one out of 8 applications for field-initiated research.  An appropriation of $35 million would support research and program innovations, as well as fund the training, technical assistance, and data collection also authorized by CAPTA out of this money. These funds are greatly needed for social workers to remain current on practice trends, to enhance service delivery, and to foster program innovations.

Urge your legislators to increase federal funding for CAPTA and reject the funding freeze proposed by the President.

House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee

Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH), Chair             Rep. David Obey (D-WI)
Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK)                                  Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS)                                 Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Rep. Ann Northup (R-KY)                                    Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX)                                    Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL)
Rep. John Peterson (R-PA)                                 Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Rep. Don Sherwood (R-NY)                                 Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL)                                   Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rep. James Walsh (R-NY)
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)

Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chair                        Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)  
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)                                 Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)           
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)                         Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)                                       Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)                       Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)                                    Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH)                                  Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)

TIMING

It is important for Members to hear from their constituents on this issue over the coming weeks as this process moves forward.

Thank you for your advocacy.

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