Government Relations Update

Keeping Children And Families Safe Act of 2003
(S. 342 and H.R. 14)

March 5, 2003

• to concentrate state grant infrastructure funds on improving the recruitment, retention, qualifications, and skills of the child protection workforce;
• to ensure that community-based programs are targeted on prevention; and
• to improve collaboration among child protection agencies and others, such as mental health, substance abuse, health, and juvenile justice to better serve children who are abused or neglected. 

Summary

KEEPING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SAFE ACT

Title I: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Funding:  Authorized at a total of $200 million for FY 2004, with “such sums as necessary” for FYs 2005-2008.  $120 million is authorized for state grants, research, technical assistance, demonstration programs, and a national clearinghouse and $80 million for community-based prevention programs.  The total CAPTA appropriation for FY 2003 is $89.5 million. 

Grants to States for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Programs

Eligibility.  To be eligible to receive grants, states must have policies and procedures in place:

(1) to address the needs of infants born and identified with fetal alcohol effects;

(2) to provide for the appropriate referral of a child not at risk of imminent harm to a community organization or voluntary preventive service;

(3) to require the disclosure of confidential information to any governmental entity that has a need for such information in order to carry out its responsibilities under law to protect children;

(4) to require CPS staff to advise an individual subject to a child abuse or neglect investigation of the nature of the complaint or allegation at the point of initial contact;

(5) to train CPS staff on their legal duties;

(6) to improve training, retention, and supervision of caseworkers;

(7) to refer a child under the age of 3 who is involved in a substantiated case of child abuse or neglect to an early intervention program funded under part C of IDEA for evaluation; and

(8) no later than two years after enactment, to institute background checks for all prospective foster and adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the household. 

Use of Grant Funds.  Allowable uses of funds include, but are not limited to:     

• Recruiting and retaining caseworkers. 
• Improving the skills and qualifications of caseworkers and supervisors.
• Improving ongoing case monitoring and case management. 
• Developing, improving and implementing risk and safety assessment tools and protocols. 
• Updating technology for tracking cases.
• Improving public education on the role and responsibilities of the child protection system and the basis for reporting suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect. 
• Instituting training protocols for mandated reporters of abuse and neglect.
• Implementing programs to obtain or coordinate services for families of disabled infants with life-threatening conditions, including social and health services, financial assistance, and services to facilitate placement for such infants relinquished for adoption. 
• Supporting and enhancing interagency collaboration with public health, mental health, juvenile justice system, substance abuse, law enforcement, and others. 

Research, Technical Assistance, and Demonstration Programs

Authorizes grants to public, nonprofit private and for-profit private entities for a full range of child maltreatment related research, including longitudinal research, technical assistance and demonstration programs. 

Research.  Among the allowable uses of research funding: 

• Incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment by a wide array of demographic characteristics. 
• Evaluation of redundancies and gaps in services in the field of child abuse and neglect prevention.
• Effects of abuse and neglect on a child’s development and identification of successful intervention services and other services. 
• Nature, scope, and practice of voluntary relinquishment for foster care or state guardianship of low income children in need of health services, including mental health services. 
• Effective approaches to interagency collaboration between the child protection system and the juvenile justice system that improve the delivery of services and treatment. 

Technical Assistance.  Among the allowable uses of technical assistance funding:

• Providing information on effective approaches being utilized to link child protective service agencies with health care, mental health care, and developmental services to improve diagnoses and evaluations.    
• Providing assistance in replicating successful program models. 

Demonstration Projects.  Among the allowable uses of demonstration project funding: 

• Protocols for providing safe environments for visitation between children and abusing parents and between children with non-custodial parents in cases of domestic violence. 
• Provision of identification, prevention, and treatment services in cooperation with preschools and elementary and secondary schools. 
• Development of research-based risk and safety assessment tools relating to child abuse and neglect.
• Research-based innovative training for mandated child abuse and neglect reporters.
• Training to support enhancement of linkages between CPS agencies and health and mental health agencies to improve diagnoses and evaluations. 
• Training of CPS staff in best practices to promote collaboration with families from initial contact through investigation and treatment.
• Training of CPS staff regarding their legal duties and responsibilities to protect the legal rights of children and families.
• Improving the training of supervisory and non-supervisory CPS staff.
• Cross-training for CPS workers for recognizing substance abuse, domestic violence, and neglect.
• Implementing information or training programs to improve the provisions of services to disabled infants with life-threatening conditions. 
• Development of a collaborative triage system to assist families in preventing child abuse and neglect, assess reports of abuse or neglect, and provide intensive intervention when the child’s safety is in jeopardy.
• Establishment of interagency linkages designed to increase the number of child maltreatment victims who have their physical health, mental health, and developmental needs appropriately diagnosed and treated. 

Citizen Review Panels.  The scope of the panels’ responsibilities is expanded to include the study of agency “practices,” conducting public outreach, and developing annual reports on recommendations for improving the child protection system.  States are required to respond in writing, within six months, as to whether and/or how they will institute the recommendations.  No later than three years after enactment, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to conduct a random sample study of the effectiveness of citizen review panels. 

National Incidence Study.  HHS is required to conduct a 4^th National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect and report its findings within four years of enactment.  The last National Incidence Study was conducted in 1993. 

National Child Abuse Clearinghouse.  The clearinghouse role is expanded to maintaining information not only about effective child abuse prevention programs, but also on training resources, best practices for improving child protection services, and best practices for making referrals to address the physical, developmental, and health needs of abused and neglected children. 

Subtitle B – Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

Grants are designed to support community-based efforts to develop, operate, and enhance initiatives aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect and to support networks of coordinated resources and activities to better strengthen and support families to reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. 

Prevention programs must demonstrate a commitment to meaningful parental leadership, including among parents of children with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and members of other underrepresented or underserved groups.    

Services eligible for funding are expanded to include respite care, home visiting, and family support services.  Other covered services include those provided by family resource programs, family support programs and parenting education programs.   

Title II – Adoption Opportunities

Funding:  $40 million authorized for FY 2004.  FY 2003 appropriation is $27.4 million.

Funding is awarded to state or local governments, or public or private licensed child welfare or adoption agencies to eliminate barriers to adoption and provide permanent homes for children, particularly special needs children and disabled infants with life-threatening conditions.  Special emphasis is on increasing the number of older children placed in adoptive families and eliminating inter-jurisdictional barriers to adoption. 

Funds to assist older children can be used for:  outreach or media campaigns; training of personnel in the special needs of older youth; recruitment of adoptive families. 

Funds for overcoming inter-jurisdictional barriers can be used for:  developing a uniform home study standard and protocols for acceptance of home studies between states and jurisdictions; developing models of financing cross-jurisdictional placements; expanding capacity of adoption exchanges to service increasing numbers of children, including older children least likely to be adopted; developing training materials and training social workers on preparing and moving children across state lines; and developing models for networking among agencies, adoption exchanges, and parent support groups across jurisdictional boundaries. 

Title III – Abandoned Infants Assistance

Funding: Authorized at $45 million for FY 2004.  FY 2003 appropriation is $12.2 million.

Program authorizes demonstration grants to prevent the abandonment of infants, address the needs of abandoned infants, recruit and train foster families for abandoned children, provide residential care for infants and young children, provide respite care, and recruit and train health and social services personnel to work with abandoned children.  Services may include foster care, case management, family support, respite and crisis intervention, counseling, and residential group home services.    

The current priority for services for abandoned infants and young children who are HIV-infected, perinatally exposed to HIV, or perinatally drug-exposed is expanded to abandoned infants and young children who have life threatening illnesses or other special medical needs. 

Title IV – Family Violence Prevention and Services Act

Funding: $175 million for each fiscal year from FY 2004-2008.  At least 10 percent of the funding is to be awarded to state domestic violence coalitions; up to 2 percent may be used by HHS for evaluation and/or monitoring of programs or other administrative costs.  FY 2003 appropriation is $127.2 million. 

Provides grants to states, Tribes, and Tribal organizations to assist in efforts to increase public awareness about family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance to victims of family violence and their children. 

Repeals three programs: Family Member Abuse and Documentation Project; Model State Leadership Grants; Youth Education and Domestic Violence Program. 

Increases the reauthorization for the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH).