FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 1998
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS APPROVES CHILD WELFARE DEMONSTRATIONS FOR MONTANA AND
WASHINGTON STATE
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced approval of child
welfare demonstration projects for Montana and Washington state.
"In the past two weeks, the Clinton administration approved
six innovative state demonstrations with projects to increase
adoptions, overcome the problems of substance abuse, and better
coordinate services to meet the individual needs of children --
an impressive effort for America's most vulnerable children,"
said Secretary Shalala. "Today, we add Montana with its promising
efforts to give children more permanent homes more quickly and
Washington state with its new local approach to ensure children
get the most appropriate services."
These demonstrations are among the first to be approved through
the expanded authority provided under the Adoption and Safe Families
Act signed by President Clinton in 1997. The new authority enables
HHS to give states more flexibility in trying innovative child
welfare projects.
Montana will offer subsidized guardianships as an option for children
over 12 years of age in state or tribal custody for whom reunification
and adoption are not viable options. The state will use federal
foster care and adoption funds to establish legal guardianships,
provide subsidies to families, train staff, and pay administrative
expenses.
Guardianship is expected to provide the child and family a legally
recognized relationship and increase the sense of family by granting
caretakers the right and responsibility to make important decisions
regarding the child. It will also provide a more stable alternative
to terminating parents' rights when children cannot return home.
The state of Washington will use federal foster care funds to
provide comprehensive, individualized services to children 8 to
17 who are in need of mental health or special education services
and are likely to be referred to group care. To avoid group care
assignments, the state will contract with local service providers
to create and implement individualized treatment plans. The state
will gauge the impact of the fixed case rate approach, which allows
services to be tailored to meet the complex needs of these children
and their families at a reasonable cost.
Washington will begin the project in Spokane County and phase
in up to nine more counties during the project.
"We're very pleased that Montana is the first state to receive
approval for a demonstration to work with both Native American
and general state population children, a goal for this round of
innovations in child protective services," said Olivia A.
Golden, HHS assistant secretary for children and families. "Washington
will test two important goals for new services to children, better
coordination with health and education needs and achieving the
most effective use of government funds."
Prior to the Adoption and Safe Families Act, Congress had given
authority to HHS to grant up to 10 demonstration projects to states.
Ten states were approved, though many more were interested. The
new law allows HHS to approve up to 10 more demonstrations each
year for the next five years. HHS has encouraged states to develop
projects in several key areas: increasing adoptions of special
needs children, promoting community-based services to prevent
child abuse and neglect, improving the access to needed health
and mental health services, and projects to meet the unique needs
of American Indian children.
Both Montana's and Washington's projects are for five years, will
be cost-neutral, and include a rigorous evaluation.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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