Summary of the FY 2023 Biden Budget
What’s in the Biden budget for child welfare and adoption, released March 28? See our new summary table.
This table also includes final numbers enacted in the FY 2022 consolidated appropriations bill, which was signed into law by President Biden on March 15. Unlike the 2022 numbers, the president's FY 2023 budget figures are just proposed spending levels and must be enacted by Congress before they become law.
The president’s 2023 budget includes several legislative proposals that specifically align with VFA’s advocacy agenda, including:
Prevention of Religious, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity Discrimination: The budget proposes amending Title IV-E to prohibit Title IV-E agencies and their contractors from discriminating against current or prospective foster or adoptive parents, or a child in foster care or being considered for adoption, on the basis of their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex. The proposal includes financial penalties and mandatory corrective action for noncompliance. The proposal is budget-neutral and consistent with the president's previous executive order preventing discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Making the Adoption Tax Credit Fully Refundable and Extend It to Guardianships: This proposal would make adoption and guardianship more affordable for low- and moderate-income families. More details can be found in this summary from the FY 2023 Treasury Greenbook.
Other proposals include:
Family First Prevention Services Act Changes: The budget includes several proposed changes to Family First prevention services (including Kinship Navigator programs) — a category of spending that is projected to grow from its currently low levels (just $15 million in FY 2021) to become a large majority of federal spending on child welfare-related prevention services by 2032. This proposal, which is estimated to cost $4.9 billion over the next ten years, includes:
Increasing Federal Reimbursement Rates for Prevention Services: The budget proposes to increase federal reimbursement rates to states for qualifying Family First prevention services, which should help more states increase their spending on such services. The proposal would provide 100 percent federal reimbursement through FY 2022, which ends September 30. From FY 2023-2026, it proposes 90 percent reimbursement (up from the 50 percent level under current law). After FY 2026, the budget would provide for the greater of 75 percent or the state’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate plus 10 percentage points, rather than the FMAP rate as required under current law.
Promoting Both “Well-supported” and “Supported” Prevention Services: This proposal makes permanent the current policy requiring states to spend at least 50 percent of prevention funds on services rated as “supported” or “well-supported" by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. When the law was first enacted, it required 50 percent of Family First prevention funds to be spent on well-supported practices, but just 14 out of the 98 interventions rated by the clearinghouse currently meet that standard.
Supporting Emerging / Developing Prevention Services: This proposal promotes innovation by allowing up to 15 percent of a state’s FFPSA prevention funding to be spent on emerging or developing services that do not currently meet the law's ratings criteria. However, states must evaluate the services and either modify (and reevaluate the modified service) or cease using title IV-E funding if the evaluation shows the service to be ineffective.
Increasing Funding for the FFPSA Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance: The budget proposes to increase funding for the Prevention Services Clearinghouse and related evaluation and technical assistance to $10 million per year. It also allows for increased tribal adaptations of approved prevention services programs.
Chafee Foster Care Program Changes: The administration is proposing to increase spending on this program by $100 million to $243 million in FY 2023 (see the budget table on the last page) and by an additional $1 billion over the next ten years. The proposal would:
Allow states to serve youth who were in foster care up to age 27 (rather than the current age limit of 21 or 23 in some states) and youth who achieve permanency through adoption or guardianship after age 14 (instead of age 16).
Make youth who receive Foster Youth Initiative or Family Unification Project housing vouchers eligible for Chafee-funded case management and services.
Remove restrictions on the percentage of funds used for room and board.
Make driving and transportation assistance allowable costs with no federal cap.
Increased Support for Kinship Care: The administration is proposing to increase reimbursement rates for kinship placements to 10 percentage points above each state’s FMAP rate. This proposal would cost an estimated $1.3 billion over ten years.
Reduced Reimbursement for Congregate Care: The administration is proposing to reduce reimbursement rates for placements in Child Care Institutions and Qualified Residential Treatment Programs to five percentage points below each state’s FMAP rate. This proposal is expected to save $180 million over ten years.
Improved Educational Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster Care: The administration is proposing to create a $30 million initiative to improve educational outcomes of children and youth in foster care. This funding would provide competitive grants to partnerships among state education agencies, one or more local education agencies, and state or county child welfare agencies.
This is an article from Voice for Adoption’s free monthly public policy newsletter.
