On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation, H.R. 9076 the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act, that includes policies approved unanimously by the Ways and Means Committee in July. The bipartisan bill reauthorizes Title IV-B child welfare programs for five years and makes historic changes to modernize the programs. At the same time, it strengthens child support enforcement through better accountability and use of taxpayer dollars.

Ways and Means Chairman Smith said:

“Title IV-B of the Social Security Act provides critical resources to protect the safety and well-being of children in foster care and gives states, tribes, and territories flexibility to invest in prevention services to keep vulnerable families together whenever possible. 

“Unfortunately, this program’s authorization expired in 2021 and the program has remained largely unchanged since 2008. We have a responsibility to make sure programs are meeting the current needs of families and children that need it most. This reauthorization modernizes Title IV-B child welfare and increases accountability.” 

Click here to read Chairman Smith’s full opening statement from the floor debate on the legislation.

Background on Modernization of Child Welfare Programs:

• Includes 16 bills from a bipartisan coalition of Republican and Democrat members that update and reform the programs.
• Reduces administrative burden and paperwork 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 tribesby 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 with better access to 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 neglectand 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 for the more than 65,000 children waiting to be adopted. 
• On July 24, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 9076, the Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act by a vote of 38-0.
• Read the one-pager on H.R. 9076 here

Background on Strengthening Child Support Enforcement:

• 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.
• On July 24, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 7906, the Strengthening State and Tribal Child Support Enforcement Act by a vote of 37-0
• Read the one-pager on H.R. 7906 here.

What They Are Saying: Child Welfare Reauthorization Delivers First-In-A-Generation Wins for Parents and Families
What They Are Saying: Bipartisan Child Support Legislation Helps Parents Provide for Children