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• WHAT IS ITS MISSION?
• HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
• PRIMARY FUNCTIONS
• PROGRAMS
• BUDGET INFORMATION
• HISTORY
• CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES
• FAST FACTS
• SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• AGENCY RESOURCES
• GET INVOLVED:
• AGENCY PUBLICATIONS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

PARENT ORGANIZATION: Department of Health and Human Services
ESTABLISHED: April 18, 1991
EMPLOYEES: 1,800

Contact Information:
ADDRESS: 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW Washington, DC 20447
PHONE: (202) 401-9200
URL: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov
ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Olivia Golden

WHAT IS ITS MISSION?

The mission of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is to promote the economic selfsufficiency of families and the well-being of children. Since the ACF was created in 1991 by merging the Family Support Administration and the Office of Human Development, its mission has been focused on moving families from financial support programs to financial independence.

HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is a cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the federal government. The ACF is overseen by an assistant secretary who is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. ACF administrative offices include the Office of Public Affairs, which produces public information, publications, and educational materials, and the Office of State Systems, which assists states in administering ACF programs.

The seven divisions headquartered in Washington, D.C., that administer ACF programs are the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, the Administration for Native Americans, the Office of Child Support Enforcement, the Office of Community Services, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Office of Family Assistance. The ACF also operates ten regional

BUDGET: Administration for Children and Families

offices throughout the United States, which oversee anc provide technical support to ACF programs administered in their regions.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is responsible for programs that address the needs of American children and families. The ACF provides financial and employment assistance, child care and child protective services, and it makes grants to states and communities for social services for families. Child protective services include child abuse prevention and treatment programs and foster care and adoption programs that provide stable homes for abused or hard-to-place children. Social service grants fund a variety of programs including day care, preschool, after school care, tutoring, counseling, and recreational services. The ACF works closely with other HHS divisions and government agencies by researching the needs of children and families and cooperating in interagency program partnerships.

PROGRAMS

The ACF administers more than sixty programs for children and families. The Social Services Block Grants program provides almost $3 billion to states to fund a wide range of social services. State and local governments must determine community needs and present action plans to apply for these funds. Grants have funded child and adult abuse prevention and treatment programs, employment and job training services, services for children with disabilities, and child care programs.

The Child Support Enforcement program ensures children are financially supported by both parents. Enforcement programs are usually run by state or local agencies that provide services free-of-charge to families receiving federal financial assistance and at a low or state-paid rate for families that are not receiving government financial assistance. The program helps families obtain child support payments by locating absent parents, establishing paternity, establishing legal child support obligations, and enforcing child support orders. The agency processes about four million requests to locate absent parents annually, about eighty percent of which an address is found for. In 1995 about $10 billion in child support payments was collected through the CSE, and paternity was established for more than 590,000 children, clearing the way for child support orders.

The ACF also administers the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides grants to states, territories, and tribal organizations to help low-income households with heating and cooling costs and energy-saving repairs. In 1995 the program provided more than $3 million to almost seven million households for heating, cooling, weatherization, and energy crisis assistance. And the Refugee Assistance Program has been successful in helping more than 125,000 refugees each year achieve economic self-sufficiency and social adjustment. This program offers cash and medical assistance, social services, preventative health services, a matching grant program, and a targeted assistance program.

BUDGET INFORMATION

The 1998 budget of the ACF was approximately $37.2 billion and was appropriated by Congress. The largest amount of the budget, $16.7 billion (45 percent), went to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Second to the TANF was funding for children and family services, consuming approximately 14 percent of the ACF budget; the Head Start program accounted for most of this money (12 percent of the total ACF budget). The rest of the budget was divided as follows: payments to states for foster care and adoption assistance, 12 percent; payments to states for family support, 9 percent; social services block grant, 6 percent; child care entitlement, 6 percent; childcare and development block grant, 3 percent; and energy assistance block grant (LIHEAP), 3 percent. About 2 percent of the ACF budget went to other services and included administration costs.

HISTORY

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) was created on April 18, 1991, as part of a reorganization effort that merged two former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, the Office of Human Development and the Family Support Administration. Before they were combined into the ACF, the Office of Human Development oversaw mental health and child welfare programs for families, and the Family Support Administration handled financial assistance and employment programs. These agencies were combined to deliver more comprehensive and cost-efficient services. The ACF brought together several long-standing programs, including the Children's Bureau, which was established in 1912 to address increasing concern over children's issues such as child labor, child abuse, and education. Also transferred to the ACF were programs from other HHS divisions such as the Head Start program, which was created under the Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965. New ACF programs were also created with the establishment of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 1994.

CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES

After much debate, on August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA), a comprehensive, bipartisan welfare reform plan. The PRWOA replaced guaranteed financial assistance programs with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which requires families to work in order to be eligible for assistance. It also limits the amount of time assistance may be received to five years.

Opponents of the PRWOA argued the plan would be disastrous for children living in poverty whose parents could not or would not seek work or comply with the plan's other requirements. Many also believed the PRWOA did not make adequate provisions for child-care assistance and that children would receive substandard care if their parents could not earn enough money or were terminated from assistance. The PRWOA also made no allowances for families facing extreme hardships or emergencies that would necessitate assistance beyond the five-year eligibility limit.

Supporters of the plan argued that previous assistance programs allowed recipients to depend on the federal government for support indefinitely and that it provided no motivation for parents to seek work to improve their family's standard of living. They also argued that reducing the number of families receiving assistance and the amount of assistance received would free up limited federal dollars for programs that would help families through job training, child care support, and job subsidies. To counter objections, the federal government also pledged to strengthen programs that would assist families making the transition from welfare to work, such as Head Start, the earned income tax credit, and child support enforcement.

Case Study: Child Support Enforcement

Studies showed in 1994 that 11.5 million families with children had a parent living elsewhere. Of these, 54 percent had awards or agreements for child support. But of the $17.7 billion owed for child support $5.8 billion went unpaid. Also, among those due support payments, about one-half received the full amount, about one-quarter received partial payment, and about one-quarter received no payment.

Upon passage of the PRWOA, the federal government promised to continue strengthening the ACF's Child Support Enforcement program to provide the additional income to families in order to make assistance unnecessary or to ease the transition from welfare to work. The PRWOA instituted enforcement measures that were projected to increase child support collections by $24 billion and reduce federal welfare costs by $4 billion by 2006. Specifically, the new federal law requires each state to operate a child support enforcement program, and it requires new hires to register with a national directory so that those who owe child support may be found.

The PRWOA also calls for tougher penalties and streamlined paternity establishment. Penalties for nonpayment of child support may include the docking of income tax refunds, docking military or government benefits, or criminal prosecution. Paternity is to be established at birth and recorded on original birth certificates. Establishing paternity for older children will require fewer legal proceedings and, once established, paternity will be nationally recognized, eliminating the need for determining paternity in each state a child may reside in. The ACF is expected to play a major role in developing new guidelines for child support enforcement programs, in overseeing the administration of state programs, and in providing funding.

SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

Since its creation in 1991 the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has weathered many program changes, restructuring, and the implementation of new initiatives. The Child Care Development Fund, established in 1996, has been particularly successful. This fund has made more than $3 billion available to low-income families and those making the transition off welfare. Moneys are put toward child care so that parents can work or attend training or education programs. Parents in the program select a legally-operating child care provider and receive subsidies through certificates or contracted programs. A minimum of four percent of Child Care Development Fund moneys must be used to improve the quality of child-care and offer additional services to parents, such as resource and referral counseling regarding the selection of appropriate child care providers.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The ACF will face challenges in carrying out its mission in the face of changes made to welfare programs in 1996. Programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training are expected to be phased out. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program on the other hand, is expected to be put into long-term action as welfare case loads decrease.

Crafters of the Adoption 2002 initiative hope to double the number of children adopted each year by 2002. The ACF will assist in developing strategies to move children more quickly from foster care to permanent homes. Adoption 2002 establishes federal goals for a child welfare system: safety, well-being, and permanency. States will be encouraged to achieve Adoption 2002 goals by means of increased technical assistance and per-child financial bonuses. Federal regulations regarding adoption will also be streamlined.

AGENCY RESOURCES

The ACF's National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect operates a clearinghouse of research materials, studies, reports, and other information on the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The center's catalogs can be viewed on-line at http://www.calib.com/nccanch or may be ordered by calling (202) 205-8646. Also, the Child Care Bureau operates the National Child Care Information Center, which provides child care information to states, providers, parents, and the general public. This center may be contacted by phone at 1-800-616-2242, by fax at 1-800-716-2242, or on-line at http://ercicps.ed.uiuc.edu/nccic.

AGENCY PUBLICATIONS

The Office of Child Support Enforcement publishes reports and handbooks, including the Child Support Enforcement Guide. Materials can be viewed on-line at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse. The National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth produces booklets such as Supporting Your Adolescent: Tips for Parents, Reconnecting Youth and Community, and Surviving Adolescence. For information on these and other publications, call (301) 608-8098, fax (301) 608-8721, or access them on-line at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/fysb.