FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, September 10, 2004
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215
MINNESOTA CHILD WELFARE WAIVER APPROVED
Initiative to help youth live in
permanent, stable homes
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the approval of a child welfare waiver demonstration project for the state of Minnesota. The waiver, which will test the impact of creating a single benefit program for youth in foster care, aims to decrease the use of long-term foster care for youth and to increase prospects for youth to move from foster care to permanent homes.
"Minnesota's children need safe and stable homes that are free of abuse and full of love," Secretary Thompson said. "President Bush believes states should have more flexibility to help children in need find permanent and loving families. That's why we are helping hundreds of Minnesota youth move from the uncertainty of foster care to a permanent, loving home."
Under the waiver, Minnesota will be able to use federal foster care dollars more flexibly so it can increase the rates paid by the state to adoptive parents or relatives who assume legal custody for children in their care. Currently, in Minnesota, adoption and relative custody assistance benefits are up to fifty percent lower than foster care rates.
"President Bush believes there should be incentives -- not disincentives -- to help youth leave foster care and be welcomed into permanent, stable homes," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. "This waiver is a major step toward removing the financial barrier to permanency and giving many more youth the opportunity for better days ahead."
The demonstration project will allow Minnesota to operate a single benefit program where benefits follow a child through foster care and into permanent families. The program will be implemented in six counties, including two counties in the Twin Cities metro area and four rural counties, with the possibility of expansion. It will focus on children in long-term foster care who are older, part of a sibling group or have psychological, physical or behavioral problems.
Minnesota estimates there are 767 youth currently in foster care in the six demonstration counties. American Indian children in the state, many of whom are over represented in long-term foster care, would particularly benefit from the new program. The state hopes to increase by at least 20 percent the proportion of children in long-term foster care who are successfully placed in permanent homes, to decrease the length of time children spend in foster care and to ensure the continued safety of children after they leave the foster care system.
Section 1130 of the Social Security Act authorizes HHS to approve up to 10 child welfare waiver demonstration projects each year. Along with Minnesota, Wisconsin was also granted a waiver. All demonstration projects are required to be evaluated by a third party and must be cost-neutral to the federal government.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news