The passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351) represents the most significant federal child welfare reform in more than a decade. While the scope and nature of the federal reforms are far reaching, the actual impact of the legislation on children will depend largely upon how it is implemented.…

Advocates, policymakers, and researchers have predicted that changes in the welfare system brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 would increase the number of children who are abused and neglected, referred to child protective services, and placed in foster care. This study examined how welfare…

Over the past 15 years, child welfare agencies have begun to rely increasingly on relatives or people who have close emotional bonds to an abused or neglected child to act as foster parents. Today, almost all child welfare agencies consider kin the first placement choice when foster care is needed, and approximately one third of all children in…

This paper presents findings from the 2001 Urban Institute Child Welfare Survey, which collected SFY 2000 expenditures. In addition to spending by source and by use, changes in spending between SFY 1998 and SFY 2000 are presented. This survey was designed to identify changes in child welfare spending following states' implementation of the…

This document discusses state child welfare screening policies and practices, presenting data from a 1997 survey that examined the nature of states' formal screening policies and number of initial allegations of child maltreatment that states screened out. Although all states screen these allegations before investigation, little is known about the…

This paper examines the needs of children in grandparent care, using data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. Information on the children was obtained from the adult in the household most knowledgeable about the child's education and health care. Most children in grandparent care live with much older caregivers and caregivers with…

In 1997, the Urban Institute surveyed state foster care administrators to gather information on state policies for identifying, licensing, and financially supporting kinship care families. For purposes of this brief, "kinship care" refers to a child whose placement was arranged by child welfare authorities. States were found to differ in…

This brief updates the Urban Institute's "Income Support and Social Services for Low-Income People in California," an overview of benefits and services in California in 1997, just before the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was enacted. Since 1997, various states have made changes across the…

Summarizing findings from a forthcoming book, this policy brief examines when and how child welfare agencies rely on kin to care for children who are taken into state custody. The discussion is based on intensive case studies of local kinship care policies and practices; the case studies were conducted in 13 counties in Alabama, California,…

In state fiscal year (SFY) 2000, states expended at least $20 billion on child welfare services, 20 percent more than in SFY 1998. This increase occurred despite the fact that the number of children reported as abused and neglected and the number of children in foster care declined. This suggests that not only are child welfare agencies spending…

Kin caregivers can provide continuity and connectedness for children who cannot remain with their parents. This is one reason kinship care has become the preferred placement option for foster children. However, despite the growing reliance on kin caregivers, kinship care policies have evolved with little coherent guidance. This article examines…

Given recent changes to child welfare financing brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, there is a need to track spending for child welfare services. This report documents states' total child welfare spending from federal, state, and local sources in state fiscal year (SFY) 1998; changes in…