Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I am pleased to present the
President's budget request for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for FY
1998. I am accompanied by Dennis Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget for
the Department.
President Clinton has presented to Congress a budget which addresses the
concerns of Americans, serves their interests, and creates opportunity; a budget that keeps
faith with the long-standing commitments of this Department. In keeping with this
Administration's policy to increase support for programs that promote economic security
and independence and healthy development for our children, while working toward more
efficient government, our budget is targeted in areas that have produced significant
payoffs.
The FY 1998 budget for the Administration for Children and Families is $37
billion, of which $15 billion comes from new requested budget authority. The remaining
amount is available through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 which appropriated $19 billion, and $3 billion of available
carryover balances in entitlement programs.
This budget meets the challenge of continuing investments which will lead to
future service improvements, costs savings, and ultimately citizens who are more
independent. In a time of very tight resources, we are seeking increases for Head Start,
the Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Violent Crime Reduction
programs. In addition, we are requesting funds to address the urgent need to find
permanent homes for children who too often remain in the foster care system for many
years, with a goal of 54,000 children adopted or placed in other permanent settings in the
year 2002.
DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS
The FY 1998 budget request includes approximately $8 billion for ACF
discretionary programs.
To create a positive future, we must build on people's strengths, hopes, and
successes, and act together to ensure appropriate and full opportunities to grow, learn and
thrive for all our children and youth. We must, as well, create stability and economic
security for our families and communities.
While the Administration for Children and Families funds a wide range of
discretionary programs, including Low Income Home Energy Assistance, Community
Services, programs for the developmentally disabled, Native Americans, and refugees,
over 65 percent of ACF's discretionary spending supports programs serving young
children through the Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant
programs. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our key
programmatic initiatives.
Head Start
The Head Start program gives children who are the most at risk a better chance of
learning and success in life. In FY 1998, we are requesting $4.3 billion, a $324 million
increase. This level will support an additional 36,000 children for total enrollment of
836,000 children and their families. This increase continues to move us toward the
President's goal of providing services to 1 million children by the year 2002.
Because early investment in children gives them the best chance of continued
success, our FY 1998 request also continues our commitment to the Early Head Start
program increasing 1997 enrollment by 8,000 infants and toddlers to 35,000 in FY 1998.
In addition, this investment in the Head Start program builds on our success over
the past few years in ensuring quality throughout the program. The performance of Head
Start grantees continues to be closely assessed. Funds will be targeted to provide training
and technical assistance to poorly performing grantees. If grantees are found to have
deficiencies which are not corrected within agreed-upon time frames, HHS terminates
their Head Start grant and appoints a replacement agency to serve that community.
Child Care and Development Block Grant
The best safety net for our children is - and always will be - strong families. And,
whether they are struggling to get jobs or keep them, we know that families need quality
child care to keep their children safe. In FY 1997 Congress appropriated $937 million of
discretionary funds for FY 1998. We are requesting an additional $63 million for FY
1998, the amount needed to fund the program at its authorized discretionary level of $1
billion.
Public Law 104-193 consolidated the Child Care Development Block Grant
discretionary funds and the former IV-A child care entitlement program into a single,
integrated child care program. In FY 1998 a total of $3 billion will be available for child
care services. Nevertheless, as welfare reform is implemented, states will face increased
pressures to provide child care to support the new work participation requirements.
Additional child care dollars will help provide critical support to State' efforts to expand
services while continuing their commitment to providing quality child care services.
Approximately 660,000 children are currently served with the Child Care and
Development Block Grant. The need for additional child care is expected to continue to
increase as a result of welfare reform. Child Care funds currently available for the
working poor reach only a relatively small percentage of the estimated 9 million children
in families with a single working parent or dual working parents that could be eligible for
Child Care and Development Block Grant funds. On average, poor families pay 18% of
their income on child care. In December 1994 the General Accounting Office reported
that the availability of affordable child care is a decisive factor allowing low-income
mothers to work.
The Administration's FY 1998 request will allow States to serve more families -
keeping families off welfare and giving parents peace of mind, knowing that their
children are safe and healthy in child care. We must continue to expand child care
opportunities to those working parents who are struggling to remain out of the welfare
system. We must continue to build the quality of those opportunities so that children are
in care that is safe, nurturing, and supportive of their development. As we see welfare
reform efforts require more and more parents to work, we must work to help them in their
efforts to provide care for their children.
Child Welfare and Child Protection
In addition, this budget reflects a strong Administration commitment to the
safety, permanence, and well-being of children who have been abused or neglected or are
in danger of abuse or neglect. Each year, millions of children are the subject of a report
of abuse or neglect. About 40% of these reports are substantiated, affecting nearly 1
million children a year. At the end of 1995, over 450,000 children were in foster care, an
increase of almost 42% since 1988. While many of these children will return home,
nearly 100,000 will not. These are large numbers, and the children behind these numbers
are our most vulnerable children; children whose safety, well-being, and healthy
development depend on how well our services respond to them and their families.
The Administration seeks to improve this situation through a major Adoption
Initiative whose goal is to double the number of children who are adopted from the foster
care system or placed in other permanent settings in 2002. This will increase the number
of children adopted or placed from 27,000 in 1996 to our goal of 54,000 in 2002. In
partnership with the States, we will identify barriers to permanent placements, set
individual State goals for each year, and reward successful performance and raise public
awareness.
Programs to Reduce Violent Crime
The FY 1998 request includes $99 million to reduce the unacceptable violence that
threatens all of us and cuts short too many lives. These funds include $13 million for the
Community Schools Youth Services and Supervision Grant Program which provide
communities with resources to develop, coordinate, and deliver academic enrichment and
job training and employment activities which promote the positive and healthy
development of youth, provide links to caring adults, and develop family and community
support in communities beset by crime and violence; $70 million for the Family Violence
Program, including battered women's shelters, which provide immediate assistance to
victims of violence and their dependents; and $1 million will continue the activities of the
National Domestic Violence Hotline. This national, 24-hour, toll-free hotline was first
funded in FY 1995 and began providing crisis assistance, counseling, and local shelter
referrals across the country on February 21, 1996. Over 72,000 calls have been answered
since the hotline became operational. Our budget fully funds Violence Against Women
Act programs in FY 1998.
ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS
Entitlement programs represent approximately $27 billion of the $37 billion
budget for the Administration for Children and Families. As a part of welfare reform,
Congress reappropriated $19 billion of the $27 billion needed in FY 1998. New FY 1998
budget authority requested for entitlement programs is approximately $8 billion.
Last summer we made a new beginning on one of our nation's most vexing
problems: the welfare system. We have begun to help many people in our national
community to help themselves. The children of welfare are more likely to drop out of
school, to run afoul of the law, to become teen parents, to raise their own children on
welfare. The system no longer will fail these children and their families, trapping many
of them in a cycle of dependency. The system will help people to move from welfare to
work. It will do so by requiring work of every able-bodied person, by protecting children,
by providing child care, and by promoting parental responsibility through tougher child
support enforcement.
We have been working closely with States and territories as they tailor reform plans
that work for their communities. As of February 5, we had certified new welfare reform
plans for 35 of the 41 states and one territory that had submitted plans.
Conclusion
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be happy to answer any questions you and the
committee may have at this time.
