Promoting Safe and Stable Families

 

The objectives of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program are: 1) to prevent child maltreatment among families at risk through the provision of supportive family services; 2) to assure children's safety within the home and preserve intact families in which children have been maltreated, when the family's problems can be addressed effectively; 3) to address the problems of families whose children have been placed in foster care so that reunification may occur in a safe and stable manner; 4) to support adoptive families by providing support services as necessary to that they can make a lifetime commitment to their children. This is accomplished through the issuance of grants to state child welfare agencies, territories, and eligible Indian tribes to serve families at risk or in crisis, to develop or expand and operate coordinated programs of community-based family support services, family preservation services, family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services. In addition, a portion of funds is reserved for separate formula grants for states and territories to support monthly caseworker visits with children who are in foster care. These programs assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of children they are raising and their own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver families are served. A small proportion of appropriated funds are reserved for research, evaluation, and technical assistance, which may be awarded competitively through contracts or discretionary grants.

Active 93.556 Administration For Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services A - Formula Grants; B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 It is anticipated that 502 formula grants to states, territories and tribes will be awarded. It is anticipated that 12 discretionary grants will be awarded. 245 formula grants were awarded to states, territories and tribes. 239 discretionary grants were awarded.
Fiscal Year 2017 245 formula grants were awarded to states, territories, and tribes and 239 discretionary grants were awarded.
Fiscal Year 2018 248 formula grants were awarded to states, territories, and tribes and 239 discretionary grants were awarded.
Fiscal Year 2019 It is anticipated that 248 formula grants will be awarded to states, territories, and tribes and 239 discretionary grants will be awarded in FY 2019. Social Security Act, Title IV, Part B, Section Subpart 2 (1) Formula Grants: States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Marianas, Guam, American Samoa, and Federally-recognized Indian tribes are eligible applicants. For caseworker visit funds, only states and territories are eligible applicants. (2) Discretionary Grants: States, local governments, tribes, public agencies or private agencies or organizations (or combinations of such agencies or organizations) with expertise in providing, evaluating and/or providing technical assistance related to family preservation, family support, family reunification and adoption promotion and support. Families and children who need services to assist them to stabilize their lives, strengthen family functioning, prevent out-of-home placement of children, enhance child development and increase competence in parenting abilities, facilitate timely reunification of the child, and promote appropriate adoptions. Formula Grants: The state agency which administers the social services program under Title XX of the Social Security Act (Social Services Block Grant) must also be the agency which administers the Title IV-B programs. Discretionary Grants: Nonprofit agencies must submit proof of nonprofit status. Applicable costs and administrative procedures will be determined in accordance with 45 CFR Part 75. Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidance in 2 CFR part 200, and has codified the text, with HHS-specific amendments in 45 CFR Part 75. ACF recipients must follow the requirements in 45 CFR Part 75. Application Procedure (1) Formula Grants: A 5-year agency plan must be submitted. A full plan (every five years) or a plan update is due for submission by June 30th of each year. The plan must be jointly developed by the Secretary and the state or Indian tribe and written after consultation by the agency with appropriate public and non-profit private agencies and community-based organizations. The plan must coordinate the provision of services under Title IV-B with services under other Federal or federally-assisted programs serving the same populations. (2) Discretionary Grants: Announcement of availability of funds is posted on the www.grants.gov website and on the ACF website at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa. Eligible applicants submit applications by specified deadlines. Formula Grants: Funds will be awarded after the agency plan, or annual update is submitted and approved. Discretionary Grants: Applications for funding are reviewed and scored by panels of at least three non-federal subject matter experts. Final funding decisions will be made by Commissioner, Administration of Children, Youth and Families (ACYF). The plan or its annual update is due on June 30 of each year. Formula Grants: The agency plan or its annual update is due June 30 of each year. Approval/disapproval by the Children's Bureau is due September 30 of each year. Discretionary Grants: The approval/disapproval range is three to six months. Subject to the limitations of the Appendix A to 45 CFR Part 16, appeals may take place in accordance with 45 CFR Part 16. Discretionary Grants: Grants are generally available for a 12, 24, or 36 month period. Some may be renewed for up to a total of 5 years. Multiple-year projects are funded on an annual basis through submission of a non-competing continuation application. Continuation funding is subject to availability of funds, submission of program and financial reports, and grantee performance. Not applicable. For the main Promoting Safe and Stable Families Formula Grants, states must spend a significant portion of funds (approximately 20 percent) on each of the service categories of family preservation, family support services, time-limited family reunification services and adoption promotion and support services. State grantees must limit administrative costs to 10 percent of the Federal funds. Caseworker visit formula grants: States and territories are required to spend funds to improve the quality of monthly caseworker visits with children in foster care under the responsibility of the state, with an emphasis on improving caseworker decision making on the safety, permanency, and well-being of foster children, and on activities designed to increase retention, recruitment, and training of caseworkers. Discretionary Grants: Grants are awarded for research, evaluation, and technical assistance activities relating to family support, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption promotion support. Project funds may not be used for construction. Performance Reports: . Audits are conducted in accordance with the requirements of 45 CFR Part 75 Subpart F. Formula and discretionary grant recipients must develop and maintain records which permit review of expenditures in accordance with the provisions of 45 CFR Part 75. Statutory Formula: Title Social Security Act Chapter Sections 433 and 437

Matching is voluntary. 25%. (1) Formula Grants: State allotments are computed based on the number of children receiving food stamps over a three year rolling average. Allotments to Indian tribes, including tribal consortia are based on a percent set aside of the total appropriation in each fiscal year and computed based on the number of children in the tribe compared to the total number of children in eligible Indian tribes. However, grants will not be made to Indian tribes whose allotment is less than $10,000. Allotments to territories are based on the formula in subpart 1 of Title IV-B. Matching Requirements: FFP is available up to the full allotment at the rate of 75 percent for allowable program expenditures made by the grantee. Grantees must provide a 25 percent match for these expenditures. (2) Discretionary Grants: The funding formula and matching requirements are described in each program announcement.

This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Additional Information: A MOE requirement is applicable to the formula grants to states. Specifically, states may not use the Federal funds under title IV-B, Subpart 2, to supplant Federal or non-Federal funds for existing family preservation and family support services as of 1992 (base year). The discretionary grants component of this program does not have MOE requirements. (1) Formula Grants: Grants are available for obligation and liquidation in the FY granted and in the subsequent FY. Grant awards are made quarterly through a letter of credit. An electronic fund transfer system will be used for monthly cash draws from Federal Reserve Banks. (2) Discretionary Grants: Grants are generally available for a 12, 24, or 36- month period. Some may be renewed for up to a total of 5 years. Renewal funding for multiple-year grants is dependent upon grantee performance and availability of funds. Discretionary grant awards are managed by a payment management system that manages grant payment requests, drawdowns, and disbursements. Contact Children's Bureau Regional Program Managers. Catherine Heath
, 330 C Street SW, Room 3509A
Washington, DC 20201 US
catherine.heath@acf.hhs.gov
Phone: 2026907888 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb 75-1512-0-1-506 (Formula Grants) FY 18$325,364,129.00; FY 19 est $321,902,509.00; FY 20 est $344,820,510.00; FY 17$326,671,996.00; FY 16$269,891,000.00; - (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 18$1,972,245.00; FY 19 est $14,792,875.00; FY 20 est $1,972,244.00; FY 17$2,349,912.00; FY 16$59,692,755.00; - In FY 2018, formula grants for main grant program: states, territories, and tribes ranged from $1,744 to $27,287,302 with an average of $1,301,793. Grantees may refer to the Remarks section of their Notice of Grant Award for specific Terms and Conditions pertaining to their grant program. Information on Post Award Requirements are posted at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/discretionary-post-award-requirements. Formula grants: Program Instructions: ACYF-CB-PI-19-02 and ACYF-CB-PI-19-04. Fiscal Year 2019 We anticipate funding one Center for Excellence in Foster Family Development in FY 2019. The purpose is to implement a model program for the selection, development and support of foster families that will work in close collaboration with birth families to preserve and nurture critical parent-child relationships and support reunification. The program will run through 2023.