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We’ve got reconciliation updates, a IV-B deep dive, and news on the TANF pilots.
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Reconciliation Becomes Law: Now What?
On July 4th, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, after a 218-214 House vote that codified the Senate’s protracted negotiations.
A new analysis by Manatt Health projects the law’s Medicaid policy changes will result in Medicaid covering 8.7 million fewer people over the next decade.
Our previous analyses examined the law’s contours as it came together.
It ended up largely following those outlines, with last-minute negotiations to secure passage while retaining the underlying cuts of nearly $1T to Medicaid over 10 years.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) expressed plans to push to prevent key Medicaid cuts from taking effect in 2027; this dynamic will inform much of the midterm elections.
The Legislative Year Ahead
U.S. House Speaker Johnson has reportedly indicated interest in two more budget reconciliation bills over the next year, with one this fall.
That ambitious timeline would be difficult with the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 26 ramping up, since it begins on October 1.
Speaking of things taking effect on October 1st, we’ve got a new rundown for you on implementation of the new child welfare law enacted at the start of this year.
Policy Explainer Redux: Title IV-B
Implementing the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act
At the end of 2024, Congress passed the biggest reauthorization in decades of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, a child welfare law providing states flexible funding.
Signed into law in early January, the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (P.L. 118-258) retools federal expectations and provides important policy signals.
It also comes with $75M in new annual funding, which comes online on October 1.
The Latest ACF Action
On June 18, the Administration for Children and Families issued an Information Memorandum on the Title IV-B reauthorization.
An Information Memorandum is one of ACF’s tools for communicating non-binding information to states.
What to Expect
A Program Instruction, a policy guidance document that will detail how to access the law’s expanded funds, and provide an official state-by-state distribution table.
The closest thing currently is this report from the Congressional Research Service, which came before enactment of the law.
As implementation looms closer, here’s a look at what matters most for child welfare systems, agency leaders, funders, and policy strategists.
IV-B’s Core Structural Tension
Title IV-B comes with significant policy and reporting requirements, and only 4% of all federal child welfare funding.
That tension is at the heart of Title IV-B. It’s the rate limiting function for its impact.
It’s how a policy shifts from aspirational incentive during Congressional markup, to conditional formatting in a state budget office spreadsheet.
If you’re a staffer or advocate who has always wondered why changes you’ve secured in IV-B over the years don’t fundamentally change systems on the ground, this is why.
Understanding that balance provides insight about how to strategically orient to this latest reauthorization without over- or under-indexing to any single aspect.
BLUF: Show Me the Money
IV-B provides a mixture of mandatory and discretionary funds across its two subparts.
Subpart 1: Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program
Authorized at $325 million annually
Most recently appropriated at $269 million
Subpart 2: MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Program
Discretionary funding
Authorized at $200M annually
Most recently appropriated at $73M.
Mandatory funding
Was $345M annually
Will now rise to $420M annually starting this October.
What follows is a rundown of its key policy changes.
For each, bear in mind the limits that come with the law’s core structural tension.
Clearer Prevention and Kinship Emphasis
The law clarifies that family resource centers and peer support are eligible for Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) funding.
Similarly, the law provides clarity that kinship caregivers are eligible for IV-B services.
The combination of clarity and new funds could new make these easier to implement.
Ensuring Poverty Alone Does not Drive Neglect
To ensure poverty alone does not lead to children entering foster care, states have increasingly implemented policies to clarify that poverty is not neglect.
Now that is part of federal law, too.
Workforce: From Punitive Oversight to Targeted Support
The law provides flexibility and funding boosts:
Boosting monthly caseworker visit funding by 30 percent, to $26M;
Allowing optional virtual caseworker visits for youth in extended foster care;
Ending federal financial penalties for missed monthly visits.
This is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to Title IV-E administrative funding, which is the core federal tool for child welfare workforce funding.
But moving from penalties to flexibility here could have effects beyond the funds themselves.
Planning with User-Centered Design
States and Tribes must now consult youth, parents, kin, and caregivers with lived experience in the child welfare system when developing their Title IV-B plans.
While many states had already begun doing this, it’s the first such federal requirement in IV-B.
Standardizing it in this way opens up formal processes for interested stakeholders to be part of those discussions.
Plans Must Be Public and Comparable
This is a deep cut that punches above its weight class. For the first time ever, states must post their Title IV-B plans online in standardized formats.
HHS must create national comparisons and summaries. This opens the door for meaningful cross-jurisdictional benchmarking; expect more maps and charts here.
Child Welfare Policy and the Legal System
The law provides an additional $10M to the Court Improvement Program, for a total of $40M starting in October.
This is the only direct child welfare related federal funding for courts to manage nearly 600,000 children’s cases annually.
States also must describe how they ensure availability of information about independent legal representation in child welfare proceedings for children and their parents or guardians.
Expanding Multi-Systems Responses to Parental Substance Use
The Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) program funds multi-disciplinary collaboration to address the role of parental substance use in driving child welfare involvement.
Under the new law, RPGs receive an increase in annual funding from $20M to $30M.
This opens the door to expanding RPGs and further developing programs to target this primary driver of child welfare involvement.
Reducing Administrative Burden
HHS must streamline Title IV-B data reporting, to reduce administrative burden by 15% within three years.
Final Recalibration
IV-B matters, but is constrained by the tension between its funding and policy aspirations.
Recognizing this, we’ve tapped former leader to see how they would implement it.
Child Welfare Director Perspectives
Child Welfare Wonk invites insights from bipartisan former state child welfare leaders on the biggest ideas shaping the field today.
Our contributors surface how former state child welfare leaders think through high-stakes policy moments.
These aren’t endorsements; they’re strategic intelligence.
Looking at leadership across political and geographic contexts, you get to see the kind of thinking that shapes decisions before they’re public.
So, how are leaders thinking about IV-B?
Alignment with Vision and Other Funds Is Key
By Rebecca Jones Gaston
The Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (PL 118-258), reauthorizing Title IV-B in December 2024, underscores the importance of funding services—not placements—to prevent family separation, support reunification, and strengthen systems support to families and children, court improvements, and kinship supports.
As a leader, I see Title IV-B as a critical, though modest, funding stream—about 4% of federal child welfare funding compared to Title IV-E, which is nearly 60%—that can support upstream efforts to keep families safely together and support reunification.
The IV-B funding increase for FY26–29 is positive, but impact will depend on how well states align Title IV-B with other resources like IV-E, CAPTA, TANF, and Medicaid.
If I were a director today, I’d focus Title IV-B funds on
Family preservation, prevention, and reunification;
Kinship navigator services;
Tribal consultation and ICWA compliance;
Cross-system coordination with health and community partners; and
Extended supports for youth transitioning out of care up to age 26.
While the law’s modest increase in federal funding matters, we cannot overestimate what the funding increase alone can achieve.
IV-B’s Real Opportunity
The real opportunity lies in continuing to break barriers and support community pathways for families and children to have access to what they need, when and where and how they need it.
As systems face federal funding cuts, it is critical to not use the child welfare system as a catch all, and to continue to have systems that are more integrated, and centered on community voice and family well-being.
Rebecca Jones Gaston served as Commissioner of ACYF from 2022 to 2025. She served as Oregon’s child welfare director from 2019 to 2022. She is the Founder and Chief Strategist of RJG Consulting, LLC.
The Opportunities in Title IV-B Reauthorization
By Mike Leach
Title IV-B has always been the program that lets states focus on the work that doesn’t always show up in a federal review but matters deeply to families; prevention, reunification, supporting kin, and stabilizing the workforce.
Title IV-B funds give states flexibility to build community partnerships and invest in front-end services.
For states already prioritizing those approaches, the reauthorization brings more consistency and helps insulate the work from leadership changes.
What Deserves More Attention
There are a few aspects of this reauthorization worth emphasizing.
Poverty≠Neglect
The bill’s language around poverty alone not being sufficient cause for neglect is big. If states take that seriously, it could shift how we respond to families in need and reduce unnecessary removals.
Youth Input and Mental Health
Second, the new requirements around mental health and youth voice in state plan development could reshape how we build plans and teams.
Overhyping of Virtual Caseworker Visits
Allowing these is helpful but not transformational. This should have already been going on, even if agencies weren’t able to count it as a visit.
Is it a Boxchecker?
If states treat this like another compliance exercise and respond by layering on more forms, checklists, or one-off trainings, it’ll add bureaucracy without improving outcomes.
Reducing Administrative Burden
The reauthorization requires HHS to reduce administrative burden by 15% and simplify reporting.
That’s a clear opening to step back, cut duplication, and build systems that work better for staff and families.
Where I’d Put the Dollars
If I were sitting in the director’s chair now, I’d be looking to use the expanded IV-B funds to:
Invest in family resource centers;
Provide real support for kinship caregivers;
Build up legal advocacy statewide.;
Invest in tools that ease documentation burdens (such as AI case documentation); and
Mental health and safety culture support
Most of what’s in the law isn’t new work, but things agencies were already trying to do: legal advocacy, addressing poverty, involving youth, and supporting mental health
This reauthorization just gives it backing, funding, and some structure.
If you’ve got the right leadership in place, you can use these changes to support your people, not burden them.
The Real Question
The real question is whether states will build around values and culture, or just respond to mandates.
That’s the difference between better systems and more red tape.
Michael Leach is a values-driven leader known for his authentic approach and focus on improving child welfare and social service systems.
He served as Deputy Commissioner in TN and State Director of South Carolina DSS, and now works with states and nonprofits through Leach Consulting Group.
ACF Reissues TANF Pilots
On July 2nd, the Administration for Children and Families announced a new Request for Applications in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
TANF Pilot Context
In 2023, the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (P.L. 118-5) created a pilot testing TANF’s promotion of work.
Five states received approval for pilots in 2024. ACF cancelled those pilots in March and announced it would start the process over.
The Structural Policy Driver
TANF's structure includes “assistance” (direct financial support) and “non-assistance” (everything else).
This matters because many states use TANF overwhelmingly for child welfare, which often falls into the non-assistance category.
At its core, TANF balances provision of financial assistance with promoting labor force participation.
These pilots are designed to test new ways of striking that balance.
What Comes Next
ACF is accepting applications through August 15th, and will begin its pilot for selected states on October 1st.
More Coming from Child Welfare Wonk
Following enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, we will be digging in even deeper, including working with researchers on relevant new original work through our Wonk Data Drop series.
See an aspect of the new law needing a data-driven breakdown that you aren’t finding anywhere else?
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