In fiscal year 2003, the Congress appropriated $292 million for subpart 1  and $405 million for subpart 2. In fiscal year 2002, the Congress appropriated   $70 million in discretionary funding for the program. The Primary Emphases of These Subparts Vary Somewhat, but the Range of Services and Types of Families Served Overlap Significantly

On a national level, our survey showed that the primary emphases of  subparts 1 and 2 vary somewhat, but the range of services offered and the  types of families served overlap significantly. Subpart 2 funds, in comparison, were used primarily to  fund programs within its required service categories—family support,  family preservation, family reunification, and adoption promotion and  support services. Services funded by each subpart  predominantly targeted children at risk of abuse or neglect and their  parents, as well as children in foster care and their parents. 2). HHS Focuses Oversight on Overall Child Welfare System, but Has Limited Knowledge about States’ Use of Subpart 1 Funds

HHS’s oversight focuses primarily on states’ overall child welfare systems  and outcomes, but the agency provides relatively little oversight specific to  subpart 1. For example, HHS regional offices work with states to establish  overall goals to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of  children and measure progress toward those goals. However, HHS has  limited knowledge about how states use their subpart 1 funds. HHS does  not collect data on subpart 1 expenditures and instead requires states to  submit annual estimates about how they plan to use their subpart 1 funds  in the upcoming year. As a result, HHS approved projected  2002 spending plans for 15 states that reported planned spending amounts  that exceeded these spending limits. HHS Regional Offices Are Unaware of Subpart 1 Spending Limits or Do Not Enforce Them

Given that HHS’s subpart 1 oversight focuses primarily on a state’s overall  child welfare goals and outcomes, the regional offices pay little attention  to the statutory limits on the use of federal subpart 1 funds for foster care  maintenance and adoption assistance payments. Some Unique Subpart 1 Service Categories Exist at the State Level, but Little Research Exists on the Effectiveness of These Services

Little research is available on the effectiveness of unique services funded  by subpart 1 because few states have evaluated these services. While our  survey data revealed no unique categories of services funded by subpart 1  on a national level, 37 states reported categories of services that were  uniquely funded by subpart 1—that is, the individual state used subpart 1,  but not subpart 2, to fund services in a particular category. The data were analyzed using states’ self-identified categories except in  the following situations: (1) if a state clearly described a program as  funding salaries for staff at the child welfare agency, we included these  data under the staff category; (2) if a state used the “other” category for a  service that clearly fell into one of the existing categories (writing in  “foster care maintenance payments,” for example), we revised the survey  response to reflect the actual category; (3) if it appeared that a state  mistakenly checked the wrong box; for example, we changed the category  from CPS to family reunification if the program was described as a family  reunification service; (4) if a state checked multiple categories, we  reported these programs separately under “multiple responses;” (5) if a  state did not check any categories, we selected a service category that best  fit the description of the program and used “other” if the description did  not clearly fall into one of our categories; and finally (6) if a state clearly  described the use of Title IV-B funds as administrative, but categorized it  in another category, we revised the survey to indicate that the funds were  used for administration and management.
Why GAO Did This Study

In 2001, states determined that over 900,000 children were the victims of abuse or neglect. In fiscal year 2003, subparts 1 and 2 of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act provided $697 million in federal funding for services to help families address problems that lead to child abuse and neglect. This report describes (1) the services provided and populations served under subparts 1 and 2; (2) federal oversight of subpart 1; and (3) existing research on the effectiveness of services unique to subpart 1--that is, when states used subpart 1, but not subpart 2, to fund programs in a particular service category. The report focuses primarily on subpart 1 because little research exists on this subpart, while studies have been conducted on subpart 2.

What GAO Found

On a national level, GAO's survey showed that the primary emphases of subparts 1 and 2 vary somewhat, but the range of services offered and the types of families served overlap significantly. No single category of service was funded solely by either subpart. In fiscal year 2002, states used subpart 1 funds most frequently for the salaries of child welfare agency staff, administrative and managerial expenses, child protective services, and foster care maintenance payments. Subpart 2 primarily funded family support, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption support services. Programs funded by the two subparts served similar types of populations--predominantly children at risk of being abused or neglected and their parents, as well as children in foster care and their parents. HHS's oversight focuses primarily on states' overall child welfare systems and outcomes, but the agency provides relatively little oversight specific to subpart 1. For example, HHS works with states to establish goals to improve the safety and well-being of children and measure progress toward those goals. However, HHS has limited knowledge about how states spend subpart 1 funds. States submit an annual estimate about how they plan to use their subpart 1 funds in the upcoming year, but provide no data on actual expenditures. HHS reports that it reviews these estimates for relatively limited purposes. We also found that HHS regional offices pay little attention to statutory limits on the use of subpart 1 funds for foster care maintenance and adoption assistance payments. For example, 9 of the 10 HHS regional offices do not monitor states' compliance with these limits. As a result, HHS approved projected 2002 spending plans for 15 states that reported estimated spending amounts that exceeded the limits by over $30 million in total. While GAO's survey data revealed no unique service categories funded by subpart 1 on a national level, 37 states reported unique subpart 1 service categories within their state. Little research is available on the effectiveness of the services in these categories, such as hotlines to report child abuse and emergency shelter services. No states conducted rigorous evaluations of these services, although several states provided some information on outcomes.