Under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, the federal government provides funds to states, tribes, and territories for the provision of services to children and their families, whether those children are living in their own homes (biological, adoptive, or extended); have been removed from their homes and placed in temporary foster care settings; or have left foster care for any reason. Title IV-B funds are provided primarily through two formula grant programs. In FY2014, these two programs received combined federal funding of $649 million, of which $269 million was for CWS and $380 million was for the PSSF program. Funding authorization for the CWS and PSSF programs was most recently extended (through the last day of FY2016) by the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (2011, P.L. Children depend on adults—usually their parents—to protect, support, and nurture them in their homes. The broadest mission of public child welfare agencies is to strengthen all families in ways that ensure children can depend on their parents to protect their safety, provide them with a stable and permanent home, and ensure their well-being. More specifically, public child welfare agencies are expected to identify families where children are at risk of abuse or neglect and to provide services to prevent maltreatment. Public child welfare agencies are also expected to identify children who have been abused and neglected and to provide services and supports necessary to ensure no further maltreatment occurs. Again, these services might be provided while the child remains living in his/her parent's home or might mean moving the child to foster care. CWS funds may be used to provide case planning and review services to children in foster care (without regard to their federal foster care (Title IV-E) eligibility status) and both CWS and PSSF funds may be used to provide other services to children in foster care and their families (e.g., parenting skills training or substance abuse treatment to promote reunification). The CWS and PSSF programs under Title IV-B have overlapping purposes and may be used to fund some, but not all, of the same services. At the same time, they have distinct program requirements, funding, and funding distribution methods. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program (CWS)

Title IV-B, Subpart 1 of the Social Security Act (Sections 420-425, 428)
The CWS program provides funds to states, territories, and tribes and is intended to "promote state flexibility" to develop and expand a program of services to children and families that uses community-based agencies and works to 
protect and promote the welfare of all children; prevent abuse, neglect or exploitation of children; permit children to remain in their own homes, or to return to those homes whenever it is safe and appropriate; promote safety, permanency, and well-being for children in foster care or those in adoptive families; and provide training, professional development, and support to ensure a well-qualified child welfare workforce. States also planned to spend more than 38% of their FY2013 CWS funds on the four categories of services (family support, family preservation, time-limited family reunification, and adoption promotion and support) for which they are required to spend the majority of funds they received under the PSSF program (the program is described later in this report). A state must also assure under its CWS plan that each child in foster care has a written case plan that is regularly reviewed, outlines the child's permanency goals, and provides other protections for children in foster care. Use of PSSF Funds for Child and Family Services

For FY2014, states, territories and tribes received $305 million in federal funds to support four categories of services: 
Family support services are meant to strengthen families and enable children to safely remain in their own homes; Family preservation services target the same kinds of services on families where a child is at high risk of being removed from the home, or where the child has been removed and the goal is to reunite the child and his/her parents. States are required to spend a "significant portion" of program funding on each of those four categories of child and family services and, their combined spending on all four categories must be no less than 90% of the federal PSSF child and family services funding they receive. At the same time, three of the four categories of services for which states must spend the majority of their federal PSSF funds target services, in whole or in part, on children in, or formerly in, foster care and the families of those children. 112-34 ), Congress extended the provisions targeting PSSF funds for these purposes through FY2016.
Children depend on adults—usually their parents—to protect, support, and nurture them in their homes. The broadest mission of public child welfare agencies is to strengthen all families in ways that ensure children can depend on their parents to protect their safety, ensure they have a stable and permanent home, and enhance their well-being. More specifically, public child welfare agencies are expected to identify families where children are at risk of abuse or neglect and to provide services to prevent maltreatment. Public child welfare agencies are also expected to identify children who have been abused and neglected and to provide services and supports necessary to ensure no further maltreatment occurs. These services may be provided while the child remains living in his/her parent's home or, if an out-of-home placement is necessary to ensure the child's safety, while the child is living in foster care.
Under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, the federal government provides funds to states, tribes, and territories to help ensure children's safety, permanence, and well-being through the provision of child welfare-related services to children and their families. These services may be made available to any child, and his or her family, and without regard to whether the child is living in his or her own home, living in foster care, or was previously living in foster care. Title IV-B funds are primarily distributed to states via two formula grant programs. Combined FY2014 federal funding for these two programs—the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services (CWS or Subpart 1) and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF or Subpart 2) program—was $649 million ($269 million for CWS and $380 million for PSSF). Funding for these two programs, which represented 94% of the total $689 million in federal FY2014 funding provided for all programs and activities under Title IV-B, has been declining in recent years.
The CWS and PSSF programs have overlapping purposes and are used to fund some of the same services. At the same time, the programs have distinct federal requirements and spending patterns. Many requirements under the CWS program are specific to protecting and otherwise ensuring the safety and permanency of children in foster care. By contrast, requirements under the PSSF program primarily focus on state planning for the delivery of child and family services for a broader population, including setting goals and regularly reviewing progress toward those goals.
Under the CWS program states must ensure provision of case review and permanency planning for each child in foster care, including those children who do not meet the federal eligibility criteria to receive those services under the Title IV-E foster care program. Spending for "protective services"—including child abuse and neglect investigations; caseworker visits to, and permanency planning for, children in foster care; and other activities—represents the largest share of federal funds expended under the CWS program. Combined, states anticipated spending close to 41% of their federal FY2013 CWS funding on that purpose. At the same time, they expected to spend close to that same share of CWS funding (more than 38%) on the four categories of child and family services for which they are required to use their PSSF funding (i.e., family support, family preservation, time-limited family reunification, and adoption promotion and support).
States are required to spend no less than 90% of their PSSF child and family services funds on four categories of services. Family support services are considered "upfront" spending in that these dollars are spent to strengthen families so that children's developmental needs are met and neither abuse nor neglect occurs. The three remaining categories for which states must spend their PSSF funds target some, or all, services on children in foster care and their families: Family preservation services may be used to prevent a child's placement in foster care, or to help children in care reunite with their parents. Time-limited family reunification services and adoption promotion and support services target children in foster care—either to permit their expeditious return home or, when this is not possible, to find them a new adoptive home. Adoption support services may also be used to provide post-adoption services to children living in new permanent families.
In November 2011 (P.L. 112-34), Congress extended funding authorization for the CWS and PSSF programs through the last day of FY2016.