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file FY 2000
app. Budget
DRAFT: CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
USES OF FUNDS FOR FY 2000 BUDGET
(Dollars in Billions)
DISCRETIONARY
Request
OMB
HHS/DOL/DOJ
WH
COMMENTS
Passback
Appeal
Priorities
FY 2000
FY 2000
FY 2000
FY 2000
Child Care Quality
0.182
0.182
FY99 advance
appropriated
Head Start*
4.997
4.997
+0.398
**
Participation goal
dilemma
FMLA/Paid Leave
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.010
Important next
Research Fund (DOL)
step
Abortion Safety
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.045
High priority
Abuse and Neglect
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.005
FLOTUS priority
Court Reform
Transitional Living
0.015
0.020
0.0
FLOTUS priority
**See attached one-pager for discussion.
MANDATORY
Request
OMB
HHS
WH
COMMENTS
Passback
Appeal
Priorities
FY 2000-04
FY 2000-04
FY 2000-04
FY 2000-04
CCDBG (Subsidies
10.5
Replaces FY99
and Infant Fund)*
Subsidies and
Early Learning
Fund
Independent Living
0.175
0.175
High priority
IV-E Extension for
0.0
0.0
c. 0.050
OMB holding
Foster Youth
In its base
*For child care mandatory items, HHS made no specific FY 2000 request and OMB made no specific passback;
presumed request level for FY 2000 is taken from FY 1999 budget.
Head Start Expansion
Policy and Cost. The purpose of our Head Start expansion policy is to reach the President's
goal of serving 1 million children with Head Start services by the year 2002. The 1999
reauthorization of Head Start made that goal more expensive to accomplish because it increased
significantly the percentage of expansion dollars (new money in the program) that must be
targeted to quality, rather than to serving more children. Before the reauthorization, twenty-five
percent of expansion dollars were targeted to quality; under current law, the quality percentage
rises sharply but phases down over time -- 50 percent in FY 2000, 47.5 percent in FY 2001, and
35 percent in FY 2002. Another factor making it difficult to meet our goal is the gradual
expansion of Early Head Start, which carries a more expensive per-child cost. OMB and HHS
also disagree about the per-child cost of Head Start services.
Our FY99 budget (before the reauthorization) assumed the creation of 44,000 new slots in FY00,
for a total enrollment of 910,000. OMB advises that adding 44,000 slots in FY00 under current
law requires a funding level of $5.266 billion. Due to lower than projected participation rates in
1997 and 1998, however, adding 44,000 new slots brings the program to only 881,000 and would
require $5.8 billion over the five-year guidance levels to achieve our goal. Reaching 910,000
slots in FY00, as assumed in the FY99 budget, would require over 70,000 new slots in FY00,
costing $6.6 billion over the five year guidance level to reach our goal.
OMB estimates that its FY00 Head Start guidance level -- $4,997 billion -- will allow the
program to add about 20,000 in FY00, for a total enrollment of 857,000. Under this scenario,
reaching the 1 million by 2002 would require adding 71,000 new slots in each of FYS 2001 and
2002, which, OMB calculates, would cost roughly $5.3 billion over the five year guidance levels.
HHS' amended request (after the reauthorization) and appeal for Head Start for FY00 is $5,395
billion, with which they propose to create 54,000 new slots for a total of 892,000 slots in 2000.
Objections and Status. OMB anticipates that the discussion of the FY00 and out-year Head
Start funding levels will take place during Shalala's meeting with Lew. The options to be
considered will be (1) commit to the goal and invest the dollars necessary to reach it; (2) commit
to reaching 1 million children but over a longer time, e.g. by 2004; (3) walk away from our goal.
The DPC should affirm that we must determine and commit to a path to reach the 1 million
participation goal, perhaps over a longer period.
CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
Policy and Cost. We propose to expand the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
at a cost of $10.5 billion over 5 years, and to maintain the structure that we proposed last year to
devote $7.5 billion to expand subsidies and $3 billion to support early childhood education and child
care quality. This will maintain last year's level of commitment to new mandatory dollars for child
care subsidies and quality.
We will more affirmatively package the overall investment as an increase in the block grant, with
a portion reserved for community-based child care improvements. With the additional $7.5 billion
over five years for child care subsidies (assuming the 80/20 match advanced last year), one million
more children will be served, for a total of 2.25 million children in 2004. The $3 billion will go to
communities to support early childhood education, home visiting and parent education, and child
care quality improvements for infants and toddlers.
Unresolved Issues and Objections. Our goal is to maintain our commitment to the significant
child care initiative that the President put forward last year, while repackaging the proposal as a
commitment to increasing the block grant for both subsidies and quality child care, rather than as
a new separate program for early learning.
It is clear that our proposal will be judged by the advocacy community primarily on the funding
level, so that it is important not to lower our commitment below $10.5 in mandatory funds.
We believe that we need to maintain a strong commitment to child care quality and early childhood
education. Many advocates, as well as some Member of Congress such as Senators Kerrey and
Kennedy, have similarly argued that we should not retreat from the early learning fund. As you
know, we had floated the idea of collapsing the early learning fund and building on the existing set-
aside in CCDBG for infants and toddlers. While the advocates are somewhat open to altering our
proposal given the difficulty of obtaining authorization for a new program, most see using the set-
aside as an endgame and view our best starting position as a commitment to last year's proposal.
In addition, given that the infant and toddler set-aside is currently only $50 million, it would be
difficult to imagine raising it to $600 million per year and would therefore most likely endanger the
funding level for early learning. Finally, some advocates strongly support targeting any new quality
dollars to communities, rather than to states, a goal that will be difficult to meet if we build on the
existing set-aside. Therefore, we propose to maintain our commitment to the balance between
subsidies and quality advanced last year, because, regardless of its prospects for passage, it is
considered the best starting point to congressional negotiations and addresses the growing need to
target dollars to the community level.
Status. HHS and NEC continue to support maintaining the Early Learning Fund. We have not had
extensive discussions yet with OMB.
Expansion of the DCTC to Provide Benefits to Stay-at-Home Parents
Policy: We propose to extend the benefits of our Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
(CDCTC) (as we proposed to change it last year) to stay-at-home parents with young children, by
assuming minimum child-care expenses of $600 per year.
The CDCTC is equal to a percentage of the taxpayer's employment-related expenditures for child
or dependent care, with the amount of the credit depending on the taxpayer's income. The
CDCTC proposal we advanced last year would increase the credit from its current rate of 30% to
50% for those with incomes under $30,000, and gradually phase it down to 20% at $59,000 of
income. This proposal, which only provides a credit to families with actual child care expenses,
costs $4.5 billion over five years, under current economic assumptions. (This is actually $.3
billion less than Treasury's estimate last year, which was $4.8 billion.)
This year, we propose to build on the CDCTC proposal we put forward by allowing all families,
including those where one parent does not work, with a child under the age of two to have
assumed expenses of $600 per year per child. Under this proposal, the maximum allowable
expenses for those with actual child care costs would increase from $2,400 to $3,000 for one
child and $4,800 to $6,000 for two children. The maximum benefit for a stay-at-home family
with one child under one would be $300.
Cost: The cost of this proposal and our CDCTC proposal is $6.1 billion. However, it only
requires $.8 billion in new dollars because Treasury now estimates that the CDCTC proposal we
put forward last year is $.3 billion less than they had previously estimated, and we are replacing
the business tax credit, which is $.5 billion, with this proposal.
Unresolved Issues and Concerns: The child care and women's community is supportive of
advancing a proposal that benefits families in which one parent stays at home, but oppose doing
so at the expense of the CDCTC proposal we put forward last year. Therefore, they strongly urge
that any benefits targeted towards stay-at-home families must be on top of last year's proposal.
Status: We have worked closely with the Treasury Department to develop this proposal. While
they have raised concerns regarding the merits of proposals to help parents who stay at home,
they are generally supportive of this proposal.
Reform and Automation of Abuse and Neglect Courts
Policy. The purpose of this effort is to provide enhanced support to abuse and neglect courts in
order to better serve children in our public child welfare system. The 1997 Adoption and Safe
Families Act (ASFA) shortened timeframes for judicial decision-making and permanency
planning for children in foster care, adding to caseload pressures already felt by abuse and
neglect court systems throughout the country. This initiative would help alleviate this burden by
providing competitive grants to state and local abuse and neglect courts for the development of
computerized case-tracking systems to better monitor and expedite the permanency plans of the
children served by the courts. In addition, the initiative will enhance judicial training and
disseminate "best practice" standards for attorneys practicing in the abuse and neglect courts.
The DOJ would administer the court automation initiative, while HHS would administer the
training and technical assistance effort. The model dependency court work done at the
Department of Justice and current work underway to implement the ASFA has set the stage for
increased support for court data systems development to ensure that children do not fall through
the cracks of unreliable data systems. Senators Rockefeller and Dewine introduced a bill at the
end of the 105th Congress that included these two pieces.
Cost. Total of $5 million in FY 2000 discretionary funding: (1) $4 million for OJJDP to offer
competitive grants for abuse and neglect courts to automate case-tracking systems, and (2) $1
million to HHS for judicial training and for dissemination of "best practice" standards for
attorneys practicing in the abuse and neglect courts. The funding level would be maintained over
five years, in order that multi-year automation grants be awarded.
Objections and Status. DPC has only had preliminary discussions with HHS and DOJ; HHS
and DOJ staff believe that support for courts is critical for the ASFA to be successful, but both
agencies are likely object to this increase if it replaces other funding priorities.
CHILD WELFARE: CHILDREN AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE
Policy and Cost. We recommend advancing several proposals to assist young people who "age
out" of the foster care system, i.e. who enter the foster care due to abuse and neglect, are unable
to return to their birth families, and do not find permanency with an adoptive family. Federal
financial support to them ends just at the time they are making the critical transition to adulthood.
First, we propose to significantly increase the Independent Living program, the main federal
program that assists this population. Working essentially as a block grant to states and
administered by HHS, the program provides services to support these young people as they earn
a high school diploma; receive vocational training and education; and learn daily living skills
such as budgeting, career planning, and securing housing and employment. The Independent
Living program has not been increased since 1992; increasing this mandatory program by 50
percent, as we propose, will cost $175 million over five years.
Second, we propose to increase the Transitional Living program, a discretionary program
administered by HHS which provides funds to local community-based organizations for
residential care, life skills training, and other support services to homeless adolescents, ages 16-
21. Unlike the Independent Living program, this program is able to fund housing. We propose
to increase the program by $5 million in FY 2000, up from $15 million in FY 1999.
Third, we propose to ensure Medicaid coverage for this population up to age 24 (see DPC Health
Team memo), for an estimated cost of $50 million over four years. Finally, we propose to extend
IV-E eligibility for federal maintenance payments beyond age 18 for certain purposes, for a cost
of approximately $50 million over five years.
Objections. HHS and OMB have been extremely receptive to advancing a multi-faceted
proposal in this area. The child welfare advocacy community is also highly supportive.
Cost Overview and Status.
(1)
Independent Living program (Mandatory) -- $175 million over five years to increase the
program by 50 percent. HHS requested this increase and OMB included it in its
passback.
(2)
Transitional Living Program (Discretionary) -- $5 million increase over FY 1999 for a
total of $20 million. HHS did not include this in its request, but OMB included it in its
passback.
(3)
Medicaid coverage (Mandatory) -- $50 million over five years. HHS did not include this
in its request; OMB included in its passback.
(4)
IV-E Eligibility Extension (Mandatory) -- $50 million over four years. HHS did not
request; OMB planning to include in a later passback.
FMLA and Paid Leave Research and Evaluation Fund
Policy. The purpose of creating an FMLA/Paid Leave Research and Evaluation Fund is to
strengthen the foundation for innovation in the States toward providing paid parental leave
benefits for lower-income American workers. Today, a few states are providing these benefits
and several states are exploring strategies to do so. However, many unanswered questions
remain. This fund would serve to (1) explore how best to structure paid leave delivery systems;
(2) evaluate current state systems; and (3) support state efforts to design or explore paid leave
systems, e.g. through a state paid leave commission. In addition, this fund would provide needed
resources to update the data in the 1995 national FMLA Commission leave study, to answer
important questions such as how many Americans have benefited from the FMLA since its
enactment.
Cost. The cost of this FMLA and Paid Leave Research and Evaluation Fund is $10 million for
FY 2000; it would be administered by the Department of Labor.
Objections and Status. The DPC has engaged in discussions primarily with the Department of
Labor to explore a number of paid leave policy options -- including a federal system of providing
benefits, a demonstration fund, and research and evaluation efforts -- and has determined with
DOL input that a research fund is a necessary foundation for either of the other more ambitious
options. While OMB has been involved in broader discussions of paid leave, we have not
discussed the research fund with them.
ABORTION SAFETY
1. Description of Policy. This proposal would provide additional security for abortion clinics in
the wake of escalating violence against clinics and providers. As you know, this builds on the
Justice Department's National Task Force announced on November 9 that creates a central location
for information related to clinic violence and that provides training to federal, state and local law
enforcement personnel. While the Task Force is already providing valuable support to communities
affected by clinic violence, a key missing piece is funds for security at clinics. Under this proposal,
Justice would give grants to conduct security assessments, purchase hardware, and provide
additional U.S. Marshall support for clinics at risk.
2. Cost. $4.5 million in FY 2000.
3. Status and Unresolved Issues. DPC has developed this proposal with DOJ. It has been vetted
by and has the strong support of outside groups, including Planned Parenthood, the Feminist
Majority, and the National Abortion Federation. OMB has seen this proposal, but has not signed off
on it.
Section V, Chapter 2, Table 2.1
Table 2-1. THE BUDGET SUPPORTS A $3.6 BILLION INCREASE IN RESOURCES FOR CHILD CARE, 27 PERCENT OVER 1999
(in millions of dollars)
Dollar
Percent
Change: Change:
1999
2000
1999 to
1999 to
To: Nicole
Estimate
Proposed
2000
2000
Spending:
From: Jennifer
Discretionary and Mandatory Budget Authority:
DI
Child Care. including $183 million increase for quality
activities and research 1/
3,167
3,550
383
12%
Child Care Supplement
-
1,155
1,155
NA
Head Start
4,660
5,267
607
13%
21st Century Community Learning Centers
200
600
400
200%
Special Education
5,334
5,450
116
2%
College Campus-Based Child Care
-
5
5
NA
Child Care Apprenticeship Program
4
5
1
25%
Developmental Disabilities Special Projects. State
Support Systems
4
4
-
0%
Early Learning Fund
-
600
600
NA
Total Spending
13.369
16,636
3,267
24%
New Tax Expenditures:
JAN
Expansion of Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
-
256
256
NA
Assistance for Stay-At-Home Parents
-
-
-
NA
Tax Credits to Private Employers
-
38
38
NA
Total Tax Expenditures
-
294
294
NA
TOTAL
13,369
16,930
3,561
27%
1/ Includes discretionary Child Care and Development Block Grant and mandatory Child Care Entitlement to States.
i3 99 22 007'P¹O
ON 8S
1/14/99 10:25 AM
Section V, Supporting Working Families, Table 2.1
Table 4-1. THE BUDGET SUPPORTS A $3.6 BILLION INCREASE IN RESOURCES FOR CHILD CARE, 27 PERCENT OVER 1999
JAN 25'99 0:42 No No.002 P.01
(in millions of dollars)
Dollar
Percent
Change:
Change:
1999
2000
1999 to
1999 to
Estimate
Proposed
2000
2000
Spending:
Discretionary and Mandatory Budget Authority:
Child Care, including $183 million increase for quality
activities and research 1/
3,167
3,550
383
12%
To:Nicole
Child Care Supplement
-
1,155
1,155
NA
Head Start
4,660
5,267
607
13%
Early Learning Fund
-
600
600
NA
From: Jennifer
21st Century Community Learning Centers
200
600
400
200%
Special Education
5,334
5,450
116
2%
College Campus-Based Child Care
-
5
5
NA
Child Care Apprenticeship Program
4
5
1
25%
Developmental Disabilities Special Projects, State
Support Systems
4
4
-
0%
Total Spending
13,369
16,636
3,267
24%
New Tax Expenditures:
Expansion of Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit,
Including Assistance to Stay-At-Home Parents 2/
-
338
338
NA
ID:
Tax Credits to Private Employers
-
40
40
NA
Total Tax Expenditures
-
378
378
NA
TOTAL
13,369
17,014
3,645
27%
1/ Includes discretionary Child Care and Development Block Grant and mandatory Child Care Entitlement to States.
2/ Includes elimination of household maintenance test.
1/25/99 12:12 PM
FEB-01-1999 17:09 FROM CDF 5TH FL.662-3550
TO
94562878
P.02
THE
WIDE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
25
Children's Defense Fand
Years
Contact: Sarah Howe, 202-662-3609
LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND.
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND WELCOMES CLINTON
INITIATIVES FOR CHILDREN
Urges Lawmakers to Invest in Children's Programs
WASHINGTON, DC - The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) today praised the
initiatives in the new Clinton budget that would invest new federal resources in key children's
programs, and urged Congress to make these initiatives a priority in budget negotiations.
The Administration's proposals to invest more than $20 billion in child care and early
education programs were lauded by Helen Blank, CDF's director of child care and development.
"This is an important commitment to helping families and making sure that children get the kind
of preparation for school that they need to succeed."
CDF noted that the new budget includes a major increase for the Head Start program.
The Administration would add $607 million in funding, allowing enrollment to reach 877,000
children, double the number enrolled when Clinton took office in 1993. The Administration's
goal is to serve one million children each year in Head Start by the year 2002. "This increase in
funding will help keep the program on track to reach these children," said Blank.
Blank also praised the Administration's proposal to triple funding for after-school
programs which help keep older children involved in constructive activities during the hours they
are not in school and give them the academic boost they need to succeed in school. The
proposed budget would increase these programs from the current funding level of $200 million to
$600 million.
"We know that these after school programs help keep children from getting into trouble
with drug, alcohol, tobacco, and other risky activities. This is a good investment in children and
in safety for communities and is a modest step given that nearly 5 million children are left home
alone after school each week," Blank concluded.
The Children's Defense Fund also praised new budget proposals which would allocate $1
billion to "welfare to work" programs that help remove barriers for welfare parents trying to
make the transition to work, $68 million for a campaign to address childhood asthma which has a
particularly heavy impact on low-income children and is a major factor in missed school days,
-more-
25 E Street NW Washington DC 20001 Telephone 202 628 8787 Fax 202 662 3510 [email protected] http://www.childrensdefense.org
FEB-01-1999 17:09 FROM CDF 5TH FL.662-3550
TO
94562878
P.03
and $280 million to help older children who leave foster care at age 18 without families to care
for them. The new funds will give them the education, employment and other skills they need to
make the transition, and also make Medicaid available to them to age 21.
"At a time of growing budget surpluses, there is no reason why Congress shouldn't act
swiftly to approve these new investments in children's programs," said Susanne Martinez, CDF's
director of programs and policy. "With the economy continuing to grow and ample resources
available, there is no better time to address these kinds of initiatives that will help children get
the services they need to thrive," said Martinez.
A detailed summary of highlights of budget proposals affecting children will be posted on
CDF's website, www.childrensdefense.org.
-30-
TOTAL P.03
Following is an overview of options for the Head Start funding level for the FY2000 President's
Budget. All options remain on the path toward serving 1 million children by FY02, including
80,000 infants and toddlers in Early Head Start. The options range in cost from $4,997 million
to $5,395 million in FY00, with five year costs that are $5.3 billion to $6 billion over guidance
levels. The table attached below summarizes the options proposed by HHS and considered by
OMB.
As you know, the Head Start reauthorization greatly increased the set-aside for quality activities.
Due to this law change, as well as other program policies, the cost of new slots has risen
dramatically. While the FY99 P.B. assumed that the request level of $4,660 million would create
30,000 to 36,000 new slots, this funding level as enacted will now only provide for
approximately 15,000 new slots in FY99, for total enrollment of 837,000.
In HHS' FY00 budget submission, the Department originally requested $4,997 million ($337
million over FY99 enacted), and subsequently revised this request to $5,395 million ($735
million over FY99 enacted). The passback level was at guidance, and equal to their original
request of $4,997 million.
In HHS' first appeal, the Department reiterated their request of $5,395 million, proposing to add
54,000 slots, for total enrollment in FY00 of 891,000. Subsequently, HHS revised their appeal
downward. Their second appeal is in the same ballpark as the OMB proposed resolution of
$5,267 million. This funding level would create 44,000 slots, for total enrollment of 881,000.
There is a logic to adding 44,000 slots in FY00, as the FY99 P.B. assumed the addition of 44,000
new slots in FY00 (albeit, to a higher base).
HHS' third appeal, a $100 million increase over passback to $5,097 million, would provide for
29,000 new slots and a total enrollment of 866,000.
Summary of Head Start Expansion Options
(All dollars in millions)
Date Submitted
FY00
New Slots
Total Slots
HHS Request
9/98
$4,997
20,000
857,000
HHS Revised Request
11/9/98
$5,395
54,000
891,000
Passback
11/24/98
$4,997
20,000
857,000
HHS First Appeal
12/1/98
$5,395
54,000
891,000
OMB Proposed
12/3/98
$5,267
44,000
881,000
Resolution
HHS Second Appeal
12/18/98
$5,267
44,000
881,000
HHS Third Appeal
12/21/98
$5,097
29,000
866,000
December 17, 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
FROM:
Jennifer Klein
Nicole Rabner
Neera Tanden
CC:
Melanne Verveer
Shirley Sagawa
RE:
Update on Budget
We thought you might like an update on your domestic priorities in the budget process.
The budget team held its first meeting with the President today.
Children and Families
Child Care. We have recommended that the President essentially reintroduce last year's
child care initiative -- $7.5 billion for subsidies for working families to pay for child care
through the Child Care Development Block Grant, a $3 billion set aside for early
childhood education, and $182 million for child care quality. On the tax side, in addition
to last year's proposals to expand the Dependent Care Tax Credit (approximately $5
billion) and give a tax credit to businesses who build or expand child care for their
employees ($500 million), we have proposed an additional tax credit for parents who stay
at home for the first year of their child's life (about $1 billion). The funding for the block
grant and the early education fund is mandatory, and there is tremendous competition for
mandatory funds, but so far we have preserved the $10.5 billion. The rest of the package
seems fairly stable.
Parental Leave. In addition to expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to
reach employees of businesses with 25 or more employees (currently the threshold is 50
employees), we have proposed to create an $8 million research fund to study paid leave
as well as to update the data in the 1995 national FMLA Commission study on unpaid
leave. A few states are already providing leave benefits and others are exploring the
issue, yet many unanswered questions remain. This fund will support state activities and
study how best to structure paid leave programs.
Head Start. The final budget figure is uncertain; OMB and HHS are trying to work out a
substantial increase for the program in order to stay on track to meet the President's goal
of reaching 1 million children with Head Start services by the year 2002. As you know,
the 1998 reauthorization made that goal more expensive to accomplish because it
1
increased significantly the percentage of expansion dollars (i.e. new money in the
program) that must be targeted to quality, rather than to serving more children.
Education. The Department of Education budget is in a state of flux. Each year, the President
has proposed an increase in its budget of roughly $3 billion. Due to budget constraints, this year
OMB has currently given Education only a $1 billion to $1.5 billion increase. Nevertheless, the
Department continues to raise the legitimate concern that the Administration could be outspent
by Republicans on education this year.
On specific initiatives, the only program that is slated to receive a significant increase at this time
is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program; half of the proposed increase of $400
million (which would bring the program to $600 million a year) would be targeted for grant
recipients who put programs in place to end social promotion. In addition, there is a proposal
under consideration to add a $100 million to Title I for an accountability initiative. (NOTE: At
this point, the President's advisors have decided not to include new policy proposals for the
reauthorization of the Education and Secondary Education Act as part of the President's FY 2000
budget.)
Health Care. There a number of new initiatives that may be of interest. The centerpiece is a
long term care tax credit. While this is a high priority, Treasury is attempting to reduce the cost
of this program by lowering the amount of the credit (the current proposal is $1,000) or by
phasing it in. On coverage, there are a number proposals: (1) providing Medicaid and CHIP
eligibility for legal immigrant children (who had been excluded under welfare reform); (2) the
Jeffords-Kennedy Work Incentives Improvement Act that allows states to cover workers with
disabilities regardless of their income or assets through Medicaid; (3) a tax credit for disabled
workers to help them pay expenses related to working; (4) a tax credit to encourage the
development of purchasing groups modeled on FEHBP; and (5) Medicare buy-in for people ages
62 to 65 who have lost their jobs and health insurance (as we proposed last year).
Two discretionary pieces that you have supported are still being discussed. While there will be a
$25 million investment in asthma prevention and treatment through EPA, OMB has refused to
fund an additional $50 million for HHS and have instead proposed a $50 million program to
educate Medicaid providers about asthma. However, the majority of children suffering from
asthma have no ongoing health coverage -- Medicaid or private -- and we therefore believe we
need a more public health oriented approach. That said, discretionary dollars are tight, and the
EPA program is an important piece. Finally, we have worked with Chris on a $40 million
discretionary proposal to provide graduate medical education funds to children's hospitals to help
reduce the burden they face because they do not receive funds through Medicare as do other
teaching hospitals. While OMB and other advisors have opposed this proposal, the President
expressed his strong support for it in the meeting today.
Child Welfare. We have recommended a series of proposals designed to assist young people
who "age out" of the foster care system: (1) a 50 percent increase in the Independent Living
2
program, which provides transition services for this population, costing $175 million over five
years; (2) Medicaid coverage for this population up to age 24, costing $50 million over five
years; (3) an extension of IV-E eligibility for an extra year (from age 18 to 19) for young people
involved in comprehensive residential programs; costing $50 million over four years; and (4) an
increase in the Transitional Living program, which provides funds to local community-based
organizations for residential and skills training services, costing $25 million over five years. In
addition, we have recommended a new $5 million grant program to provide enhanced support to
abuse and neglect courts to automate case-tracking systems and train attorneys and judges. We
are very optimistic about securing both of these initiatives.
Abortion and Family Planning. We are recommending an increase in Title X family planning,
building on past budget successes and promising trends of declining teen pregnancy and infant
mortality. Currently, OMB plans to increase the program by $15 million to $230 million for FY
2000, but we are hopeful that we will secure an additional $10 million. In addition, we have
proposed a $4.5 million fund to provide additional security for abortion clinics in the wake of
escalating violence against clinics and providers.
Crime
Crime Bill. The President's advisers are now discussing whether to put forward a major
Administration crime bill, or a series of significant crime initiatives which are tied to the
FY 2000 budget. If we do put forward an omnibus crime bill, its major pieces would
include: (1) a reauthorization of the COPS program (the 1994 crime bill's authorization
expires at the end of FY 2000) with some changes; (2) a series of new firearms initiatives;
and (3) offender accountability provisions, such as alternative programs for youthful
offenders. As part of the FY 2000, the COPS program will receive $1.3 billion, $100
million less than it received in this year's budget process.
Prevention. There are a number of prevention programs that have been flat-funded. The
Department of Justice's main source of prevention funding is its At-Risk Youth Initiative,
which funds a variety of prevention programs, including home visitation, mentoring, and
anti-truancy initiatives this initiative will be flat-funded at $95 million. In addition, the
Safe and Drug Free Schools program will receive the same amount it received last year.
Currently, the program mostly funds anti-drug curricula, but as part of the reauthorization
of the Education and Secondary Education Act, we hope better to target the funds toward
research-based prevention efforts.
Domestic Violence. Like the rest of the 1994 Crime Bill, the Violence Against Women
Act (VAWA) is due to be reauthorized by the end of FY 2000. There are a number of
VAWA II proposals on the hill, and Senator Biden has promised early action on this
legislation. Domestic violence programs are funded by both the Departments of Justice
and Health and Human Services, and both Departments are receiving level funding ($435
million) for their initiatives to fund police, prosecutors and women's shelters.
3
AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps had requested $176 million, and it looks like they will get $80
million. This means they will reach 100,000 members in 3 to 4 years rather than 2, and that
more of the members will be summer-only (high school and college) rather than full-year. In
addition, there is no new money in the budget for other service programs, with the exception of a
new senior service initiative which will be counted as part of the AmeriCorps expansion. This
approach is probably more realistic, but somewhat disappointing given the role we had hoped
you would play in highlighting the AmeriCorps program. On the tax side, the Treasury
Department is attempting to rescore the cost of excluding AmeriCorps post-service education
awards from taxable income so that it does not count as a revenue raiser (they currently believe
that it will raise revenue because some AmeriCorps members would no longer be eligible for
Hope or Lifetime Learning credits).
Microcredit. The Adminstration will advance a number of proposals to expand access to
microcredit: (1) raising the CDFI budget by $5 million to $100 million; (2) increasing by 75
percent SBA funds for technical assistance programs to $28 million; (3) doubling funding for
SBA microlending programs; (4) including $105 million over four years for the PRIME Act
initiatives (Senator Kennedy's bill); and (5) increasing funding for Individual Development
Accounts from $10 to $25 million (which can be applied to small business capitalization).
4
Possible Settleout Range
Request
Low
High
CEQ
Costal Salmon
125
100
100
Lands and Livability
500-750
375
375
Clean Air Fund
250
250
250
HHS
CDC
75
60
60
Long-Term Care
150
150
150
AIDS
28
28
CBC AIDS
50
50
Mental Health (SAMSHA)
75
65
65
Race and Health
50
50
50
Children's Hospital
40
40
40
Tobacco - PH CDC
27
27
27
Tobacco - FDA
66
32
32
Educational Research -
-NIHD
25
10
15
Food Safety
50
40
40
Education
Adult Literacy
255
110
180
Social promotion
350
350
350
Quality
18
18
Urban/Rural Computing
75-100
60
60
Shift general Ed Tech increase
[25]
TLC
41
41
Charter Schools
9
5
10
Stay in College
50-100
25
25
Title I Accountability
250
0
0
Technology for Disabled
40-60
35
35
Native Americans
10
10
10
Education Research
25
Labor
Universal re-employment
300
210
250
Youth employment
212
170
170
FMLA/Paid Leave
8
8
8
Child Labor
Enforcement
3
Standards
40
40
40
Equal Pay
20
20
20
NLRB
10
10
10
458
458
Urban Instituto
SBA
238
Treasury
25
HUD Abandoned buildings
100
50
50
Treasury
Firearms
25
15
15
Americorps
100
80
80
Child Labor
20-30
Microcredit
10
10
10
Deduct Education
-500
-500
Total
2502
2592
12/15/98 03:56 PM
to
FY 2000 BUDGET INITIATIVES
12/10
12/15
Agency/Policy Area
Discussion
Discussion
CEQ
Costal Salmon
125
100
Lands and Livability
750
375
Clean Air Fund
250
250
HHS
CDC
75
60
Long-Term Care
150
150
AIDS
28
CBC AIDS
50
Mental Health (SAMSHA)
75
65
Race and Health
50
50
Children's Hospital
40
40
Tobacco -- PH CDC
27
27
Tobacco -- FDA
66
34
Educational Research
25
15
Food Safety
50
40
Education
Adult Literacy
255
190
Social promotion
350
350
Quality
18
Urban/Rural Computing
100
60
Charter Schools
9
10
Stay in College
100
25
Title I Accountability
250
0
Technology for Disabled
60
35
Native Americans
10
10
Education Research
25
Labor
Universal re-employment
300
250
Youth employment
212
170
FMLA/Paid Leave
8
8
Child Labor
Enforcement
3
Standards
40
40
Equal Pay
20
20
NLRB
10
10
12/16/98 04:35 PM
FY 2000 BUDGET INITIATIVES
12/10
12/15
Agency/Policy Area
Discussion
Discussion
Urban Intiative
150
SBA
238
Treasury
25
HUD Abandoned buildings
100
50
Treasury
Firearms
25
15
Americorps
100
80
Child Labor
30
Microcredit
10
10
Information Technology
DARPA
100
[100]
NSF
60
35
DOE
70
35
Digital Library
20
20
Energy
Climate Change
75
75
Russia
535
Agriculture
Integrated Service Ecosystems
50
50
VA
Smoking cessation
90
[90]
Homeless vets
Justice
COPS II
650
650
Coerced abstinence
100
[100]
Offender Justice
40
40
Unallocated Education
-500
Total
5753
3190
12/16/98 04:35 PM
ACF and AoA FY2000 Guidance and Request Levels
FY1999
FY2000
President's
HHS Request
Planning
HHS Req. diff from
HHS Req. diff from
Program/Category
Budget
Enacted
Guidance
FY99 Enacted
Planning Guidance
Head Start
4,660
4,660
4,997
4,997
337
0
Other ACF
Child Care & Development Block Grant
1,177
1,000
1,183
1,177
183
6
LIHEAP
1,087
1,100
1,100
1,087
0
13
LIHEAP Emergency Fund Available (non-add)
300
300
300
300
0
0
ACF Services
1,282
1,372
1,314
1,282
-58
32
Runaway & Homeless Youth (non-add)
59
59
59
NA
0
NA
Child Abuse Programs (non-add)
68
68
75
NA
7
NA
Child Welfare Programs (non-add)
358
356
358
NA
1
NA
Developmental Disabilities (non-add)
119
119
130
NA
11
NA
Community Services Grant (non-add)
489
500
491
NA
-9
NA
Other CS/NYSC (non-add)
0
54
0
NA
-54
NA
Federal Administration (non-add)
145
145
157
NA
12
NA
All Other (non-add)
45
72
45
NA
-27
NA
VCRTF
105
105
130
105
25
25
Refugee and Entrant Assistance 1/
415
435
421
415
-14
6
Social Services Block Grant 2/
-471
-552
-485
-485
67
0
Research Rescission
0
-21
0
0
21
0
Administration on Aging
871
882
1,212
871
330
341
Social Security Adminstration: Adminstrative Expenses
6,523
6,512
6,997
6,535
485
462
ACF Subtotal
8,255
8,099
8,659
8,578
560
81
ACF &AoA Total
9,126
8,981
9,871
9,449
889
422
Note: Guidance levels for ACF outyears include Head Start expansion, but not at levels sufficient to fund expansion under the new reauthorization.
Guidance levels for ACF outyears include SSBG rescissions which were used in TEA-21 for FYS 2001-2004
1/ FY99 enacted includes carryover funds in addition to appropriation of $415 m.
CBO does not score these carryover funds.
2/ FY99 level includes scoring of $81 million rescission from FY98.
1:27 PM10/28/98
DRAFT: HEALTH CARE
USES OF FUNDS FOR THE FY 2000 BUDGET
(Dollars in billions, fiscal years)
DISCRETIONARY
Requests
OMB
HHS
WH
COMMENTS
Passback
Appeal
Priorities
2000
2000
2000
2000
Bioterrorism
0.370
0.152
+ 0.218
+ 0.090
High priority
Superbug
0.020
0.000
+ 0.010
High priority
AoA Caregiver Program
0.150
0.010
+ 0.140
+ 0.140
Needed for LTC initiative
Nursing Home Quality
0.100
0.035
+ 0.013
+ 0.100
GAO investigation underway/ need $
Medicare LTC Education
0.025
0.000
+ 0.025
Needed for LTC initiative
AIDS: Ryan White
0.100
0.072
+ 0.050
OMB funding only minimum
AIDS: CBC Initiative
0.100
0.000
+ 0.050
+ 0.050
Needed for CBC
Race & Health
0.080
0.000
+ 0.103
+ 0.050
High priority
Mental Health
0.100
0.000
+ 0.116
+ 0.100
VP priority
Asthma (only EPA funds)
0.025
0.000
+ 0.050
+ 0.025
Funded through EPA/maybe Medicaid
Medicaid de-institut. grant
0.050
0.000
+ 0.038
Other disability policies should be enough
Rural emergency services
0.050
0.000
+ 0.025
POTUS interest/possible mandatory
FDA, Food Safety
0.550
0.127
+ 0.263
+ 0.050
Need $50 m for food safety
Native Americans
0.500
0.175
+ 0.205
Probably OK
Children's GME
0.150
0.000
0.040
FLOTUS priority
DoD Cancer, osteoporosis
Want $200 million of DoD increase
Biomedical Research
0.500
0.049
+ 1.500
Problem that won't go away
TOTAL
2.870
0.620
+ 2.696
+ 0.755
MANDATORY
Requests
OMB
Additions/
Passback
Priorities
2000-04
2000-04
2000-04
Jeffords-Kennedy
1.200
1.200
Medicare Buy-In
1.700
0.000
+ 1.700
POTUS interest
Cancer Clinical Trials
0.750
0.000
+ 0.750
VP priority
Medicaid disability option
0.110
0.110
Important to disability community
Medicaid for Foster Kids
0.050
0.050
FLOTUS priority
Legal Immigrant Kids
0.100
0.100
Last year's proposal
CHIP Territories
0.100
0.100
=
"
QMB Low-Income Reforms
0.000
0.000
Depending on baseline, budget neutral
Kids' Outreach
0.000
0.000
"
"
TOTAL
4.010
1.560
+ 2.450
12/7/98
DRAFT: HEALTH CARE
SOURCES OF FUNDS: FY 2000 BUDGET OPTIONS
OMB LIST
COMMENTS
2000
5 Years
For Discretionary Programs
DRG Payments
0.084
0.420
Somewhat controversial
Single Fee for Surgery
0.140
0.760
Somewhat controversial
Lab Fees
0.030
0.190
Can only have 1 Lab policy (see below)
Hospice Double Payment
0.060
0.360
Very controversial
Reducing Prosthetics & Orthotics
0.090
0.470
Very controversial/contrary to disability init.
Reducing Enteral Nutrients
0.030
0.150
Very controversial
Subtotal
0.434
2.350
MIP/ Flatlining Fraud **
0.090
0.990
Contrary to fraud efforts
Bad Debt Payment Reductions
0.160
1.490
Dropped from Omnibus: very controversial
Hospital Update Reduction
0.250
4.600
Viable but controversial/ should lower amt.
DSH Reduction or Medicaid Admin **
0.150
1.770
Not good policy
IME reform **
0.300
2.000
Ahead of Commission/ not for this year
Subtotal
0.950
10.850
TOTAL
1.384
13.200
For Mandatory Programs
Cost Allocation
With TANF Prohibition
0.295
1.900
Very controversial/bad policy
Without TANF Prohibition
0.050
1.000
Better but still difficult
Last Year's Program Integrity
2.300
OK
20% Lab Coinsurance for lower prevent. copays
0.300
Ahead of Commission/one 1 Lab policy
Medicaid Generics
0.100
Slightly controversial
Technical Fix to Medicare SGR (physicians)
0.300
OK
TOTAL
5.900
** OMB may drop on its own.
12/7/98
DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH
AND HUMAN
SERVICES
HUMAN SERVICES-USA USA
&
HEALTH
Fiscal Year
OF
2000
OMB Submission
Administration for
Children and Families
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
General Statement
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the
Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for programs
which promote the economic and social well-being of families, children,
individuals, and communities. Many of these programs are at the
forefront of the Administration's domestic agenda; including welfare
reform, child care, child support, foster care and adoption, and Head
Start.
Consistent with the President's focus, the Secretary has provided a
framework for the budget request in her goals for the Department. The
goals include building strong foundations for families and children, and
strong management. The Administration for Children and Families is
responsible for programs which make major contributions to the
achievement of these goals.
Overview
Under the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act,
and within the framework of the Department goals, agency strategic goals
and performance standards and measures have been developed. we remain
committed to results, to the measurement of results, and to joint work
with partners. The priorities reflected in the Administration for
Children and Families' FY 2000 budget are in support of the strategic
goals which have been developed in the ACF performance plan:
Improve the economic independence and productivity of
families;
Increase the healthy development, safety and well-being of
children and youth;
Deliver high quality services to help develop healthy, safe
and supportive communities and tribes;
Be a high-performing, customer-focused, results-oriented
organization.
The Administration for Children and Families supports activities for a
range of critical Administration priorities under these four goals,
including:
0
Welfare Reform: Enabling families to move from welfare to work
and to succeed at work (Vice President's Bold Goal and Secretarial
Initiative);
Child Care: Creating access to affordable, quality child care for
low-income working families (Presidential and Secretarial
Initiative);
]
Child Support Enforcement: Increasing the number of children with
paternity established and child support collections in place, so
that they can grow up with the financial and emotional support of
both parents (Vice President's Bold Goal);
Adoption and Child Welfare: Doubling adoptions and other
permanent placements from the public child welfare system (Vice
President's Bold Goal and Presidential Initiative) and, protecting
the safety, permanency, and well-being of children in danger of
abuse or neglect;
0
Head Start: Enrolling 1 million children by 2002, and ensuring
that they receive a high quality Head Start experience that will
enable them to start school ready to learn (Presidential
Initiative) ; and
Infants and Toddlers: Reaching more infants and toddlers with
Early Head Start and quality child care, reflecting what we know
about the rapidity of brain development in the first three years
of life (Presidential Initiative to double Early Head Start).
2
Summary of Major Budget Initiatives
Head Start
The requested increase in Head Start, of $337 million, will
fund 32,000 additional children as well as expanded services
to infants and toddlers and continued quality improvement,
moving toward the President's goal of serving 1 million
children in Head Start and doubling the size of Early Head
Start by 2002.
Child Care
The second year of funding for the President's Child Care
Initiative for working families represents an increase of
$125 million in mandatory funding over the Administration's
FY 1999 request. This initiative reflects the critical role
of quality, affordable child care as a support for low-
income working families, essential both to parents'
continued employment and children's healthy development and
learning. This proposal assumes enactment of the child care
initiative in FY 1999. If that proposal is not enacted in
full, we would incorporate enactment at the originally
proposed funding levels in the FY 2000 budget.
Developmental Disabilities and Welfare to Work
A new investment of $11.1 million in the Programs for
Persons with Developmental Disabilities programs is proposed
for two major purposes -- to strengther. the program's focus
on accountability and results through an incentive funding
strategy and improved formula; and to provide technical
assistance and demonstration resources that will promote and
strengthen state welfare-to-work strategies that meet the
needs of families with a developmentally disabled member.
Family Violence
We are proposing an increase of $24.6 million for battered
women's shelters and related services as part of a
comprehensive $71.3 million Departmental initiative to
improve and expand services for victims of domestic violence
and to bolster prevention activities to change the social
norms that allow this violence to occur. Given the scope
and magnitude of the problem of violence against women and
the relatively limited services and supporting activities we
now fund, efforts that allow us to expand and extend
services and foster new ways of approaching the problem are
critical. The ACF increase will support the enhancement and
expansion of existing services, improvements in data
collection, monitoring, and evaluation; and technical
assistance and demonstration strategies = strengthen
collaboration between domestic violence services and other
service networks, building on the first steps already taken
in child support, child welfare, TANF and criminal justice.
Refugee Resettlement
Based on the State Department's projections of new entrants
and on the continuation of key social services programs, we
3
Child Support Enforcement: Increasing the number of children with
paternity established and child support collections in place, so
that they can grow up with the financial and emotional support of
both parents (Vice President's Bold Goal);
Adoption and Child Welfare: Doubling adoptions and other
permanent placements from the public child welfare system (Vice
President's Bold Goal and Presidential Initiative) and, protecting
the safety, permanency, and well-being of children in danger of
abuse or neglect;
Head Start: Enrolling 1 million children by 2002, and ensuring
that they receive a high quality Head Start experience that will
enable them to start school ready to learn (Presidential
Initiative); and
Infants and Toddlers: Reaching more infants and toddlers with
Early Head Start and quality child care, reflecting what we know
about the rapidity of brain development in the first three years
of life (Presidential Initiative to double Early Head Start).
2
Summary of Major Budget Initiatives
Head Start
The requested increase in Head Start, of $337 million, will
fund 32,000 additional children as well as expanded services
to infants and toddlers and continued quality improvement,
moving toward the President's goal of serving 1 million
children in Head Start and doubling the size of Early Head
Start by 2002.
Child Care
The second year of funding for the President's Child Care
Initiative for working families represents an increase of
$125 million in mandatory funding over the Administration's
FY 1999 request. This initiative reflects the critical role
of quality, affordable child care as a support for low-
income working families, essential both to parents'
continued employment and children's healthy development and
learning. This proposal assumes enactment of the child care
initiative in FY 1999. If that proposal is not enacted in
full, we would incorporate enactment at the originally
proposed funding levels in the FY 2000 budget.
Developmental Disabilities and Welfare to Work
A new investment of $11.1 million in the Programs for
Persons with Developmental Disabilities programs is proposed
for IWO major purposes -- to strengthen the program's focus
on accountability and results through an incentive funding
strategy and improved formula; and == provide technical
assistance and demonstration resources that will promote and
strengthen state welfare-to-work strategies that meet the
needs of families with a developmentally disabled member.
Family Violence
We are proposing an increase of $24.5 million for battered
women's shelters and related services as part of a
comprehensive $71.3 million Departmental initiative to
improve and expand services for victims of domestic violence
and to bolster prevention activities =0 change the social
norms that allow this violence to occur. Given the scope
and magnitude of the problem of violence against women and
the relatively limited services and supporting activities we
now fund, efforts that allow us to expand and extend
services and foster new ways of approaching the problem are
critical. The ACF increase will support the enhancement and
expansion of existing services, improvements in data
collection, monitoring, and evaluation; and technical
assistance and demonstration strategies to strengthen
collaboration between domestic violence services and other
service networks, building on the first steps already taken
in child support, child welfare, TANF and criminal justice.
Refugee Resettlement
Based on the State Department's projections of new entrants
and on the continuation of key social services programs, we
3
are projecting an increase of $6 million in funding for
refugee programs. The estimate does not assume any
carryover from prior years. We will be working with the
State Department over the next few months as they finalize
their entrant ceiling numbers.
Independent Living and Child Welfare
The budget proposal continues existing spending levels on
the discretionary side in support of the Administrations
adoption goals, but proposes an increase of $37 million on
the mandatory side for two purposes:
A $35 million increase in the Independent Living Program
(which has remained constant at $70 million since 1992)
will help keep children aging out of the child welfare
program from becoming homeless, jobless, or drug
addicted. As we seek to ensure stable permanent homes
for children and to promote work and self-sufficiency, we
must include those children who, despite all our efforts,
have not been adopted and reach adulthood directly from
the foster care system without the supports most children
and young adults are fortunate to have.
A S2 million setaside will support monitoring of child
welfare and family service programs in the States --
including family preservation and support, time-limited
reunification services, adoption support services, child
protective services, foster care, adoption, and
independent living -- and will provide technical
assistance and monitoring of critical systems
development. This is the system which provides us with
the information necessary to make payments under the
Adoption Incentives Program.
Community-Based Resource Centers
We are proposing an increase of $7.2 million for this
program in support of the goal of minimizing the risk of
harm to children, protecting them from child abuse and
neglect and enhancing families' capacities to provide for
their children's needs by increasing public awareness,
parent education, and family support services available to
parents in their own communities.
Accountability and Administrative Support
A new investment of $11.7 million for administrative
resources and information systems will provide
accountability and oversight for key priorities, including
quality and expansion in Head Start and Early Head Start;
implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act;
implementation of the Administration's child care
initiative; and TANF data collection, analysis and
dissemination. P.S part of this investment we are proposing
a fellows program similar to the Service Fellowship Program
at PHS. This will provide ACF with the flexibility to
recruit approximately 12 persons with expertise in specific
programmatic areas for limited periods of time.
4
Summary of FY 2000 Legislation
Reauthorizations
Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (DD)
ACF will seek a 5-year reauthorization of these critical programs which
help empower persons with disabilities and their families to receive
support at home and in their communities. Families are the greatest
natural resource available to their children and many persons with
disabilities are the major providers of support, care, and training for
their children. A growing number of families are searching for ways to
care for their children with disabilities and these programs can be an
efficient and cost-effective means of developing supports for the DD
families.
As part of the reauthorization package, first we will seek changes to
the State Grant formula to simplify the methodology for computing
state/territory allocations and acknowledge and encourage the
achievement of valued results, including a focus on working families
with persons with disabilities, through a new incentive provision. In
addition, WE will convert the University Affiliated Program to a formula
grant program. Second, we propose to include technical assistance
setasides that will allow us to focus resources on linkages between the
Developmental Disabilities networks and other critical priorities. In
FY 2000, we propose to focus on links to employment-related services for
TANF recipients moving to work. Third, we will include language in the
proposal to allow the cost of making and monitoring grants to be paid
from program funds.
Refugee Resettlement Programs
ACF plans to seek a 5-year reauthorization of the refugee program with
only minor legislative amendments. Through the regulations process,
however, ORR will be drafting alternatives to the current refugee cash
and medical assistance programs to promote more effective cooperation
between the States and the voluntary agencies. These regulations are
being developed after a series of consultations conducted by ORR with
hundreds of key partners in refugee resettlement.
Family Violence/Domestic Violence Hotline
ACF will seek a 5-year reauthorization of this Violence Against Women
Act program that addresses issues of domestic violence with minor
legislative amendments. In addition, as in the Programs for Persons
with Developmental Disabilities reauthorization, we will seek language
to allow the program to pay for costs associated with the making and
monitering of grants out of program funds.
Incidents of domestic violence disrupt communities, destroy
relationships, and harm hundreds of thousands of Americans each year.
In addition to the personal burdens domestic violence causes, the
financial burdens run into the billions of dollars each year. Among the
most tragic effects of family violence is the cycle of abuse perpetuated
by children and teenagers who see and experience brutality at home.
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Other Technical Proposals
Child Welfare and Foster Care
This legislative proposal includes a setaside for monitoring of child
and family service reviews, to encompass the range of Federally-assisted
child and family services programs, including family preservation and
support, time-limited reunification services, adoption support services,
child protective services, foster care, adoption, and independent
living. These reviews are essential to the safety, permanency and child
and family well-being goals of the Adoption and Safe Families Act.
Fellows Program
To address some of the specialized staffing needs of ACF, we are
proposing legislation to establish a fellows program similar to the
Service Fellowship Program at PHS. This will allow ACF to recruit
persons with expertise in specific programmatic areas for designated
periods of time.
6
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
FY 2000 Discretionary Budget Request
The FY 2000 budget request for the Administration for Children and
Families (ACF) discretionary programs is $9.1 billion, an increase of
5418 million over the amended FY 1999 President's Budget and $81 million
over the FY 2000 column of the FY 1999 President's Budget. This
increase includes $20 million to restore program levels to amounts
before bioterrorism amendments to the President's FY 1999 Budget.
The major changes in the FY 2000 discretionary budget request compared
to the amended FY 1999 President's Budget are:
C
Head Start
+S
337,000,000
0
Programs for Persons with
Developmental Disabilities
+$
11,120,000
0
Family Violence
+S
24,560,000
O
Refugee Resettlement
+$
6,000,000
C
Community-Based Resource Centers
+$
7,225,000
0
Federal Administration
+S
11,654,000
ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE AND PRODUCTIVITY FOR FAMILIES
One of the Department's priorities is moving people from welfare to
work. In support of that priority, in FY 2000 the Administration for
Children and Families will continue to give particular attention to
programs designed to support and stabilize working families.
Child Care for Working Families
While the average family spends about seven percent of their income on
child care, low-income families spend approximately a quarter of their
income for child care services
The Child Care and Development Block Grant, the General Child Care
Entitlement program and the Dependent Care Tax Credit are the major
Federal programs that help low-income working families pay for
affordable, safe care for their children. Even with these programs and
the new programs proposed in the FY 1999 President's Budget, resources
are stretched far too thin. Now that welfare reform focuses on ensuring
that families move from welfare to work, there 15 E greater need for
child care support, to ensure that families that have entered the labor
force are not forced back onto welfare.
In FY 2000, ACF is requesting the second year of funding for the
President's five year initiative to address and expand activities
related to three key issues: affordability, quality and availability.
These funds will help provide support for working families in their
effort to access quality care for their children. This will move US
toward achieving the President's goal of increasing by one million the
number of children in child care in 2003.
This budget request assumes passage of the President's Child Care
Initiative in the FY 1999 President's Budget. If that proposal is not
enacted, or if only a portion is enacted, we would incorporate enactment
at the original proposed funding levels in the FY 2000 budget.
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Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
ACF is requesting an additional $11.1 million in FY 2000. We will seek
changes to the State Grant formula to simplify the methodology for
computing state/territory allocations and acknowledge and encourage the
achievement of valued results, including a focus on working families
with persons with disabilities, through a new incentive provision. In
addition, we will convert the University Affiliated Program to a formula
grant program. We propose to include technical assistance setasides
that will allow us to focus resources on linkages between the
Developmental Disabilities networks and other critical priorities. In
FY 2000, we propose to focus on links to employment-related services for
TANF recipients moving to work. We will include language to allow the
cost of making and monitoring grants to be paid from program funds.
Refugee Resettlement
The refugee resettlement program is designed to help refugees and Cuban
and Haitian entrants who are admitted to the United States to become
employed and self-sufficient as quickly as possible through providing
cash and medical assistance to refugee households that are not eligible
for TANF, Medicaid and SSI during their first months in the United
States; and English language training, employment-related services, and
a variety of special activities.
Based on the State Department's projections of 100,000 new entrants, of
which 20,000 are Cuban/Haitians, and on the continuation of key social
services programs, we are projecting an increase of $6 million in
funding for refugee programs. This will continue to support 8 months of
service. The estimate does not assume any carryover from prior years.
We will be working with the State Department over the next few months as
they finalize their entrant ceiling numbers.
1.)
HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH
The Department's commitment to the early years of life reflects this
Administration's efforts to support parents in providing young children
with a full opportunity to grow, learn, and thrive. Both research
evidence and the experiences of parents and caregivers demonstrate that
children's environment during those early years is critical to their
ability to succeed in school and later in life.
Head Start
Only about 40% of eligible preschoolers are now served by Head Start.
In keeping with this Administration's commitment to build a strong
foundation for success for all of America's low-income children, this
budget proposes $4.997 billion for Head Start, an increase of $337
million over the FY 1999 President's request. This request is
consistent with the goal set by the President during the FY 1994
reauthorization of the Head Start Program: one million children
enrolled in Head Start in 2002 including 80,000 children in Early Head
Start.
The FY 2000 funding will allow an increase of approximately 32,000
preschool children and their families, including up to 7, 000 infants and
toddlers in the Early Head Start program.
Early Head Start. In recognition of the powerful evidence that
the period before ace three is critical to healthy growth and
development and to later success in school and in life, the Head Start
Act established a new program for low-income pregnant women and families
with infants and toddlers. Called "Early Head Start, this program
began in 1995 to provide early, continuous, intensive and comprehensive
child development and family support services to low-income families
with children under age three. The FY 2000 funding level will include an
increase in the number of infants and toddlers and their families in the
Early Head Start program, as well as expanded technical assistance,
training, and research to support top quality infant and toddler
programs nationwide. This increase continues to move US toward meeting
the President's goal of 80,000 children in Early Head Start in 2002.
Quality. The 1994 Head Start reauthorization reflected a
bipartisan commitment to ensuring that every child in Head Start
receives the top quality, comprehensive services that are the hallmark
of the Head Start vision.
Partnerships. In keeping with the Department's own vision of
strong foundations for children's development that cut across
programmatic lines, ACF will continue to expand the ability of Head
Start programs to work with others in communities and states across the
country on an integrated vision of top quality early childhood services.
We are identifying and disseminating community models of Head Start-
child care collaborations; developing new and stronger links with the
Department of Education and local school districts; and strengthening
the State Collaboration offices, which support linkages between Head
Start and state early childhood and related offices in all 50 states.
Violence Against Women Initiative - Family Violence
As part of the Department's Violence Against Women Initiative, ACF is
requesting an additional $24.6 million in FY 2000. While we are making
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some progress in meeting the basic food, shelter, medical and crisis
counseling needs of survivors of violence, women and children need more
than this to recover from the devastating effects of domestic and sexual
violence. A comprehensive response to violence against women should
incorporate strategic community sectors to build and strenghten an array
of services and prevention strategies. The Department will be making
investment in two areas -- enhancing services and changing social norms.
The ACF request includes an additional $17.5 million to expand and
further strengthen the network of battered women's shelters and related
services, including the domestic violence coalitions and the network of
resource centers. This increase will provide services to approximately
72,000 women. An additional $2.5 million will increase culturally
appropriate services for underserved populations, $3.5 million will
provide innovative services beyond crisis care, $560,000 will provide
for evaluation and dissemination of model projects, and $500,000 will be
used to work with partners in the business community, education
community and youth-serving community to address the complex issues that
support violence against women behaviors.
In addition, we will include language to allow the program to pay for
costs associated with the making and monitoring of grants out of program
funds.
Community-Based Resource Centers
We are requesting an additional $7,225,000 for the Community-Based
Resource Centers program to expand support to help minimize the risk of
harm to children, protecting them from child abuse and neglect in their
homes and enhancing families' capacities to provide for their children's
needs by increasing public awareness, parent education, and family
support services available to parents in their own communities.
4
A RESULTS-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
The Administration for Children and Families has the responsibility for
providing assistance to America's most vulnerable populations. In
carrying but this mission we must provide high quality, cost-effective
and efficient services, meet customers' needs and expectations, and use
state-of-the-art information technology to improve management and data
systems.
Federal Administration
The FY 2000 request for Federal Administration is $156.8 million, an
increase in funding of $11.7 million over the FY 1999 President's budget
request.
This request maintains staffing at the number of staff that we expect to
have at the enc of FY 1999 (approximately 1,550 with an additional 12
temporary experts in residence through our proposed Fellows Program).
However, this staffing level assumes considerable realignment of staff
to meet the areas of expanded responsibility described below. In
addition to maintaining staffing, the request adds additional
investments in systems and data collection capacity = enable US to work
more efficiently, and proposes a fellows program similar = the Service
Fellowship Program at PHS. ACF has a critical need for up-to-date
expertise in a variety of programmatic areas that may not stay the same
over time, a perfect setting for the use of outside fellows.
Critical Workload Demands
ACF has responsibility for many of the programs which are at the
forefront of the Administration's domestic agenda; including welfare
reform, child care, child support, foster care and adoption, and Head
Start. ACF has seen significant staffing reductions in the last few
years, from a level of more than 2,000 FTEs in FY 1993 to fewer than
1600 in FY 1999, while experiencing a concurrent growth in its
programmatic responsibilities. For example:
C
The Head Start program has seen funding and enrollment levels
increase dramatically since 1992. The Administration's commitment
to quality means intensive staff involvement in monitoring,
technical assistance, and the time-consuming but critical tasks
associated with terminating a crantee that is not able to provide
quality services.
O
The Early Head Start program - a critical laboratory for
evaluating the impact of early intervention in improving the lives
of disadvantaged children and families - was begun in September
1995 and has quickly grown to the point where, in FY 1999,
approximately 400 agencies will be receiving Early Head Start
funding. ACF is responsible for assuring that each of these
grantees is providing comprehensive and quality services, and
therefore needs staff with expertise in early childhood
development. At a ratio of 12-14 grants per Federal project
officer, the 400 grantees added by FY 1999 should have led to an
increase of about 30-35 staff. Further increases in Barly Head
Start envisioned by the Administration would add considerably to
that total in FY 2000.
5
Child Care has experienced dramatic programmatic growth and will
continue to grow over the next few years as the Presidential
Initiative on Child Care is implemented.
C
With the much more visible role of child care in the states and at
the national level, the demands on staff for technical assistance,
data collection and analysis, policy development, and the
dissemination of information continue to grow. Passage of the
President's Initiative would bring with it a whole range of
important and urgent demands, including review and development
with states of benchmarks for the Early Learning Fund.
The Presidential Initiative on Adoption which calls for doubling
the number of adoptions and other permanent placements by the
beginning of 2003, along with the implementation of the Adoption
and Safe Families Act add another set of critical
responsibilities. For example, ASFA expands the maximum number of
state demonstration waivers to be authorized by ACF from 10 total
to 10 per year; we are only barely keeping up with the enormous
interest in these waivers at the front-end. And, we have not
solved the problem of tracking and monitoring them.
0
In the area of child support enforcement, Congress did provide
set-asides for technical assistance and computer systems in order
to insure completion of the major new requirements imposed by
PWRORA. However, child support responsibilities outside those two
areas have also grown. For example, child support audit
responsibility has expanded to include administrative cost audits
and system reliability audits to assure proper use of Federal
funds and integrity of data to support program performance
measures. Additional funds for travel and systems support are
needed to allow completion of these critical audits.
Systems development for TANF is essential in order to provide
critical data collection and validation. In the area of welfare
reform, Congress has shifted the nature of ACF's role, to involve
less oversight of policy and program decisions but more attention
to data, results, and accountability. This data collection role
is both critical and urgent, and it requires investment. As
States and tribes put new data systems in place, ACF must build
the capacity to provide basic technical assistance to them, to
receive the data when submitted, and to verify and analyze the
data. Adequate analysis of TANF data reports and their
relationship to expenditures is essential to the continued success
of welfare reform. Data used to track caseload movement, and to
determine penalties and bonuses must be accurate so we can present
a clear picture of the impact of welfare reform.
Staff Reallocation and Other Strategies For Addressing These Demands
Over the past several years, as the tension between increasing workload
and decreasing staff has become acute, we have reallocated staff,
reorganized, identified strategies to use staff more flexibly, relied
on
technology and on outside expertise to stretch our limited staff
capacity as far as it can go, and implemented savings steps to free up
resources for priority use. However, we are proposing to halt the
decrease in FY 1999 and maintain those staffing levels in FY 2000
because WE believe that we will not be able compensate through
reallocations and other strategies for decreases below that level.
6
The Request
We are committed to taking advantage of all available strategies to use
our existing staff and administrative support resources as effectively
as possible. However, we have reached a point where we can no longer
achieve the results we are accountable for without investments in
systems capacity and in staff.
Therefore, we are proposing three investments in this administrative
request:
0
Maintaining existing staffing levels, so that we will not
lose further capacity and expertise through attrition;
C
Investing in systems and data analysis capacity; and
0
Creating a fellowship program, similar to the Service
Fellowship Program at PHS, to address some of our
specialized staffing needs. This will allow ACF to recruit
persons with expertise in specific programmatic areas for
designated periods of time, thus meeting our needs for
flexibility and easy access to priority areas of expertise.
7
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
FY 2000 Mandatory Budget Request
The FY 2000 mandatory budget is $32.5 billion, an increase of
S826, 598, 000 over the FY 1999 current estimate. This request is
consistent with the FY 1998 mid-session review and reflects an increase
of $37 million over the FY 2000 column of the FY 1999 President's
Budget.
Welfare Reform and Working Families
Since August 1996, when the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted, we have seen many
changes in the welfare programs in this country. We have seen dramatic
declines in the welfare caseloads, with over 2.4 million recipients
leaving the rolls. More recipients are now working, and more of those
who have left the rolls are working. New partnerships are being forged
with government collaborating with business, community organizations,
transportation providers, the media and religious leaders to help move
families to work.
The passage of this legislation has presented all of US with a variety
of opportunities and challenges. We must continue to give particular
attention and support to programs designed to support and stabilize
working families, as demonstrated by the Secretary's Initiative and the
Vice President's Bold Goal, and we must build on the progress to date to
ensure two key next steps for the future: we must work with states and
communities to ensure that they reach and invest in all families
including those with particular needs such as substance abuse, domestic
violence, developmental disabilities, and those who live in isolated
rural and inner city communities; and we must complete transition to a
true focus on work by promoting success at work for low-income families
Child Support Enforcement
The Child Support estimate does not include any legislative proposals.
However, child support financing discussions continue to take place.
Independent Living
The FY 2000 request includes an increase of $35 million for Independent
Living. This program has remained constant at $70 million since 1987.
This increase will help keep children aging out of the foster care
program from becoming homeless, jobless, or drug addicted. As we seek
to ensure stable permanent homes for children and to promote work and
self-sufficiency, we must include those children who, despite all our
efforts, have not been adopted and reach adulthood directly from the
foster care system without the supports to fall back on that most
children and young adults can take for granted.
Child Welfare/Adoption and Safe Families Act Programs
All children deserve a safe and nurturing permanent home. When a
child's biological family cannot provide such a home, children deserve
prompt and permanent placement with a loving family, not a long period
of uncertainty. While foster care cifers these children a safe and
nurturing temporary haven, as many as 100,000 foster care children will
8
need permanent homes in the next few years. Many of these children have
special needs and require the security and stability of an adoptive
family to develop their full potential.
The President's Adoption 2002 initiative and the Adoption and Safe
Families Act signed by the President in November, 1997 address the
critical needs of these children for safety, permanence, and well-being.
The Administration is committed to implementing the wide-ranging
provisions of the statute designed to ensure that children's safety is
paramount, that foster care is temporary, and that children have
permanent, safe, loving homes. The President has set an Adoption 2002
goal of providing safety, permanency and well-being for at-risk children
by doubling the number of adoptions and permanent placements from the
public welfare system. The FY 2000 request will continue the joint
effort by Federal, State and local governments, child welfare and
adoption professionals, community leaders, and interested citizens to
achieve this goal, thereby improving the lives of children who are
backlogged, or at risk of being backlogged, in the child welfare system,
by creating permanent homes for them.
Efforts to reduce barriers to the adoption process and strengthen our
technical assistance to enable States to increase the numbers of
children adopted, especially children with special needs will continue.
To further these efforts we are proposing an investment of $2 million
from title IV-E funds for monitoring of child welfare and family service
programs in the states, including family preservation and support, time-
limited reunification services, adoption support services, child
protective services, foster care, adoption, and independent living is
requested. These reviews are essential to safety, permanency and child
and family well-being. These funds will be targeted = providing
technical assistance and monitoring of critical systems development, the
systems which provide us with the information necessary to approve or
disapprove state expenditures. A legislative proposal will be developed
to allow use of funds for these critical activities.
Conclusion
In summary, this budget proposes increases in Head Start, Foster Care
and Independent Living, Family Violence, Refuges Resettlement, Programs
for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Community-Based Resource
Centers and Federal Administration. These choices represent our best
judgment as to how ACF can satisfy its many responsibilities to
America's vulnerable populations in a time of fiscal restraint. We
believe this budget proposal strikes an appropriate balance between
program responsiveness and fiscal prudence.
9