News from our Federal Partners

Building Early Childhood-Child Welfare Partnerships to Support the Well-Being of Young Children, Families, and Caregivers

Grant Funding Available (Closing March 13, 2023) — Support provided through this opportunity offers strategic multi-system and multi-level collaboration between child welfare, ECE, and other relevant partners to prevent child abuse and neglect and provide comprehensive support to children and families. Grant recipients will implement strategies to ensure that coordination and communication between relevant partners become institutionalized. Learn more.

Best Practices to Strengthen Family Support in Child Maltreatment Reporting and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services

Grant Funding Available (Closing March 13, 2023) — This Notice of Funding Opportunity will support the development and dissemination of best practices to strengthen the capacity of child abuse hotline staff to distinguish between poverty and willful neglect. This funding will support building a national messaging campaign on how individuals can become a source of support to families in their community by acknowledging the impact of racial inequities and seeking solutions that can help mitigate child safety concerns before they rise to the level of crisis. Learn more.

Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education (HTYPE) Demonstration Program

Grant Funding Available (Closing April 27, 2023) — The Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is announcing funds for the Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education (HTYPE) Demonstration Program. The goal of the HTYPE Demonstration Program is to fund local educational agencies (LEA) to develop and implement programs to prevent human trafficking victimization through the provision of skills-based human trafficking training and education for school staff and students as specified in the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018.

Grants to Expand Substance Use Disorder Treatment Capacity in Adult and Family Treatment Drug Courts

SAMHSA is soliciting grant applications to expand substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery support services in existing drug courts. Up to $400,000 per year of funding is available for 5 years. Applications are due March 6, 2023. Learn more.

New Federal Information Memorandum (IM) on Human Trafficking Among Children and Youth in Foster Care

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates that 19 percent of children and youth who ran away from foster care likely experienced sex trafficking. This new information memorandum elevates resources to help states in meet legal requirements to protect children and youth in the child welfare system from negative outcomes associated with human trafficking. The IM provides an overview of federal statutes related to human trafficking among children and youth in the child welfare system, highlights resources to meet those requirements and provides guidance, best practices, recommendations, training, and technical assistance.

FY 2023 National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative – Category III: Community Treatment and Service (CTS) Centers (Short Title: NCTSI III)

Grant Funding Available (Closing March 27, 2023) — The purpose of this program is to increase access to effective trauma- and grief-focused treatment and service systems for children, adolescents, and their families, who experience traumatic events. With this program, SAMHSA aims to raise the standard of care and improve access to evidence-based services for children experiencing trauma across the nation.

How TANF Funds Were Spent in FY2020

In fiscal year (FY) 2020, combined federal TANF and state MOE expenditures and transfers totaled $31.6 billion. Of that amount only 22.3 percent was spent on basic assistance. Want to know where the money went? Explore the national and state data in detailed tables, pie charts, and an interactive map.

New Fact Sheets from the State Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database

Four new fact sheets from the State Child Abuse & Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database summarize key aspects of states' child abuse and neglect policies, including defining, reporting, screening for, and investigating child maltreatment.

Enhancing Equity in CW Through Data

OPRE is proposing a new information collection to understand how and to what extent data are used to explore equity in service delivery and child and family outcomes, to identify barriers or problematic data practices, and to explore efforts by child welfare agencies and their partners to use data to reduce barriers across the continuum of child welfare services.

New ACF Letter Highlights Importance of Supporting Children who Have Lost a Parent or Caregiver

Losing a parent or a caregiver is a life-changing event. Supporting children & families who have experienced loss is deeply embedded in the work we do at ACF. @ACFHHS published a list of resources that can help partners support children experiencing loss: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/caregiverloss. Want more guidance? Watch our Digital Dialogue.

Mobile App Connects Individuals Impacted by Substance Use with Help

The newly released CheckDEC app, available in English and Spanish, connects drug-endangered children, families, and professionals to information on substance use, crisis helplines, treatment information, supportive resources, and services within their area.

Support for Tribes Around Human Trafficking

The Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center works with federally recognized tribes to develop approaches that align with cultural values while honoring and respecting American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) practices. The Center helps tribes: (1) build their capacity to aid all victims of human trafficking, (2) navigate the broad range of resources available to support their missions, and (3) strengthen their human trafficking service network.

Empowering Youth in Foster Care

Teens in the child welfare system may find it to be lonely and disconcerting at times. Dealing with past trauma, feeling unheard and misunderstood, and the looming fear of aging out can all be scary to them. The Children’s Bureau has compiled a collection of resources to share with teens as you help them prepare to make decisions for their future.

New National Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents Released

This comprehensive, no-cost curriculum tackles separation, loss, grief, trauma, and differences of race and culture in adoption and foster care, offering adoptive, kinship, and foster parents culturally relevant and flexible education to empower them over the course of time and at the right time.

Being Anti-Racist Is Central to Trauma-Informed Care

A new resource from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers actionable principles and strategies that organizations can implement to move toward fundamental transformation around equity, healing, and justice.

CDC approves Coronavirus vaccines for children from 6 months to 5 years

Working with families with young children? New resources are available to help you talk with them about the new coronavirus vaccine available for children 6 months to 5 years old. Get shareable resources and outreach tools from https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/.

New ICE policy to ensure that non-citizens can maintain visitation for minor children

ICE Directive 11064.3, Parental Interest of Noncitizens Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children or Incapacitated Adults, ensures that when a parent or legal guardian is arrested or detained for a civil immigration proceeding, the noncitizen can maintain visitation with their child or incapacitated adult for whom they serve as guardian, coordinate their care, and participate in any related court or child welfare proceedings.

Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records

Overview of State laws that designate the officials and entities that may have access to the confidential records, under what circumstances, and the appropriate use of confidential information. Summaries of laws on this topic for all individual States and U.S. territories are available from the Statutes Search page.

Prevention Services Clearinghouse Releases New Program Ratings

Prevention Services Clearinghouse has just released program ratings for nine new programs or services, bringing the total number of reviewed programs up to 109. Check it out!
https://preventionservices.acf.hhs.gov/

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Use 988 to access the Lifeline, a national network of over 200 crisis centers equipped to support those having a mental health or suicide-related crisis.