Cape News

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation, H.R. 9076, the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act, which includes policies approved unanimously by the Ways and Means Committee in July. The bill reauthorizes Title IV-B child welfare programs for five years and introduces significant changes to modernize these programs while strengthening child support enforcement through enhanced accountability and use of taxpayer dollars.

Ways and Means Chairman Smith stated:

“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.”

The modernization of child welfare programs involves:

- Inclusion of 16 bills from a bipartisan coalition that update and reform existing programs.

- Reduction of administrative burden and paperwork for state agencies and caseworkers by at least 15 percent.

- Strengthening support systems for the 2.5 million grandparents and relatives providing kinship care for children who would otherwise enter foster care.

- Improved access for Indian tribes by streamlining funding and enhancing state compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

- Addressing caseworker crises by ensuring they have access to necessary technology and training.

- Improving outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care with better service access.

- Expanding evidence-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect, ensuring children are not separated from parents solely due to poverty-related neglect.

- Supporting adoption services by evaluating pre- and post-adoption services effectiveness for over 65,000 children awaiting adoption.

On July 24, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 9076 by a vote of 38-0.

In terms of strengthening child support enforcement:

The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program is a federal-state partnership aimed at obtaining child support on behalf of custodial parents. Serving 13 million families, it is one of the most cost-effective federal programs; in FY 2023, nearly $5 was collected for every $1 spent on operations, totaling nearly $30 billion from non-custodial parents.

Conflicting federal laws threaten states' ability to efficiently run their CSE programs using contractors. Starting October 1, 2024, IRS requirements could result in significant costs to states if contractor use is discontinued.

The bipartisan bill formally authorizes state use of contractors for child support enforcement purposes while granting tribes equal access to necessary information. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill would save $777 million.

On July 24, the Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 7906 by a vote of 37-0.