Enable the states to provide more preventative services as to decrease the number of children who enter foster care.

This petition requests an amendment to Title IV of the Social Security Act which will create a flexible grant for child welfare spending. As the law currently stands, states are financially incentivized to place children in foster care due to the open-ended funding they receive from the federal government. If the federal government enables the states to freely spend Title IV funds as necessary, then the at-risk families in our communities would receive the preventative services they need to provide a safe and stable home environment for their children. At this time, states can not afford to provide preventative services to all families in need and as a result many children are removed from their homes and placed in foster care.