Block Grants

This year, I moved to Los Angeles after a long career in policy in Washington, D.C. I didn’t move here to work in the so-called “industry,” but boy, do I know a bad movie when I’ve seen one.

Since the election of Donald Trump, there have been glimpses of the potential fallout for vulnerable children in foster care — those whom the state is responsible for parenting. We are looking at the possibility of disastrous cuts that will adversely affect children and families for generations to come.

Much has been written and said about what the nation might expect from a Trump Administration on a variety of issues, ranging from health care to immigration to foreign policy. Little attention, at least publicly, has been devoted to an issue that touches the lives of millions of the most vulnerable children and families: child welfare.

In this latest installment of our “Dollars and Priorities” series on federal financing of child welfare, our columnists dive into the “look back.” The look back refers to how the federal government reimburses states to pay for foster care through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act.