evidence: New York Office of Children and Family Services and California Department of Social Services provided on-background interviews. We posed questions regarding agency policies and practices on assessing and addressing the role of poverty in child welfare decision making, the complex needs of parents with substance use disorders, and the racial disparities and disproportionalities within their state’s child welfare system. [...] States were told by the federal government that "they could not deny [financial support] based on suitable-home tests unless they took steps to rehabilitate the family," and for families deemed by the state to be incapable of rehabilitation, Congress amended Title IV of the Social Security Act to provide federal funding to place their children in the foster system.[25] [...] —Bobbie Butts, advocate, California, April 15, 2022[214]