Legislation reauthorizes and reforms child welfare program and strengthens child support enforcement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Ways and Means Committee advanced two pieces of legislation that support families and children living in vulnerable circumstances. The Committee approved a first-in-a-generation reauthorization and reform of the Title IV-B child welfare program, tasked with helping prevent child abuse and neglect, protecting the safety and well-being of children in the foster care system, and keeping families together. 2008 was the last time the program received any significant reforms and authorization for the program expired in 2021. The reforms included in the committee-approved legislation ensures children are not separated from their parents solely because of poverty, strengthens support systems for relatives providing kinship care, cuts federal administrative burdens to allow caseworkers to concentrate on serving families, broadens mental health care planning to provide support for children and youth dealing with trauma, and expands access to legal representation. 

The Committee also advanced legislation to overturn an IRS policy change that would make it more difficult for custodial parents to receive child support payments. The IRS established an October 1 deadline to block state agencies from using contractors for the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program, which serves nearly 13 million families and 18 percent of all children. The bill also provides parity for tribes operating child support enforcement programs.

In his opening statement, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) highlighted how this legislation will provide real help to vulnerable children and families often invisible to Washington: 

“From the start of this Congress, this Committee has made regular Americans, those folks that for too long have been largely invisible and ignored by Washington, our top priority. This includes children who are growing up in difficult circumstances without the resources and care they need. 

“Today, we are considering two bills to provide real help to these vulnerable children and their families. We have before us a reauthorization and reform of our nation’s child welfare programs as well as legislation to ensure states can continue to collect child support on behalf of millions of families across the country.“

The advancement of the legislation to the full U.S. House of Representatives is the culmination of the Committee’s year-long review of federal child welfare programs. This Congress, the Committee has held four hearings focused on challenges facing the child welfare system – including the barriers faced by Native American tribes in accessing child welfare services, modernizing the child welfare system so states can respond to 21st-century families’ needs, and supporting youth aging out of foster care in their transition to adulthood. At these hearings, some of which were outside Washington, members heard from witnesses with experience working in the child protective services system, including caseworkers and state administrators, as well as testimony from former foster youth with lived experience.

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The Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 9076)
Introduced by Work and Welfare Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Ranking Member Danny K. Davis (D-IL), the legislation reauthorizes and reforms child welfare programs under Title IV-B.

• The last time these programs were authorized was fiscal year 2021 and the program last received significant reforms in 2008. 
• The legislation includes 16 bills from a bipartisan coalition of Republican and Democrat members that update and reform the programs.
• Reauthorizes Title IV-B for five years and makes reforms to modernize the program.
• Reduces paperwork and data reporting for state agencies and caseworkers by at least 15 percent.
• Strengthens support systems for the 2.5 million grandparents and relatives providing kinship care for children who would otherwise enter foster care.
• Improves access for Indian tribes by streamlining funding, as well as improving state compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. 
• Addresses the caseworker crises by ensuring caseworkers have access to technology and training that support a strong workforce. 
• Improves outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care, including by allowing foster youth up to age 26 to be eligible for services and incorporating lived experience in the state planning of child welfare plans.
• Supports the expansion of evidence-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect and ensures children are not separated from parents solely due to poverty-related neglect.
• Supports adoption services by evaluating the effectiveness of pre- and post-adoption services available under Title IV-B to adopt the more than 65,000 children waiting to be adopted. 

The legislation passed the Committee 38-0.

Read a one pager on the legislation here.
Read a section-by-section on the legislation here.

The Strengthening State and Tribal Child Support Enforcement Act (H.R. 7906)
Introduced by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), along with Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), the legislation blocks an IRS rule making it more difficult for parents to receive child support payments.

• The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program is a federal-state partnership dedicated to obtaining child support on behalf of custodial parents. This vital support system serves 13 million families and 18 percent of all children in the U.S.
• As one of the most cost-effective federal programs, in fiscal year (FY) 2023, for every $1 spent on program operations, nearly $5 was collected for families. The program collected nearly $30 billion in payments from non-custodial parents. 
• Conflicting federal laws threatens the ability of states and tribes to efficiently run their CSE programs using contractors.  
• Starting on October 1, 2024, the IRS will require states to discontinue use of contractors. This could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to states and the federal government, and suspend child support payments to millions of families, including tribes. 
• The bipartisan bill formally authorizes state use of contractors for purposes of child support enforcement and gives tribes the same access to information needed to operate their child support enforcement programs.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill would save $777 million.

The legislation passed the Committee 37-0.

Read a one pager on the legislation here.
Read a section-by-section on the legislation here.
Read a letter of support from 26 Republican and Democrat governors here.