Child welfare agencies across the United States are charged with protecting and promoting the welfare of children and youth who are at risk of, or who have been victims of, maltreatment. State and local child welfare agencies rely on multiple funding streams to administer programs and services. While many funding sources are available to child welfare agencies, each source has its own unique purposes, eligibility requirements, and limitations, creating a complex financing structure that is challenging to understand and administer. Each state’s unique funding composition determines what services are available to children and families and the ways in which child welfare agencies operate.
As a result, child welfare administrators, policymakers, advocates, and researchers need accurate, up-to-date information on states’ financing, and on the financing-related challenges and opportunities that agencies face in serving children and families. To this end, Child Trends is currently conducting the 14th edition of its national survey of child welfare agency expenditures.
Please note that the SFY 2024 data are still being prepared, and products will be posted on this page as they become available.
Child Welfare Financing 101 Infographic
The latest infographic provides a high-level introduction to the child welfare financing landscape.
Infographic
Report
The SFY 2024 report is forthcoming. View the most recent report from SFY 2022 in the "Past Financing Surveys” section below.
Data Table
The SFY 2024 data table is forthcoming. View the most recent data table from SFY 2022 in the "Past Financing Surveys” section below.
Funding By Source
The SFY 2024 funding source factsheets are forthcoming. View the most recent factsheets from SFY 2022 in the "Past Financing Surveys" section below.
State Profiles
SFY 2024 state factsheets will be added on a rolling basis as they are finalized. View the most recent factsheets from SFY 2022 in the "Past Financing Surveys" section below.
Past Financing Surveys
The Child Welfare Financing Survey is administered every other year. Products from prior years’ reports are available below.
Related Research
- Child Welfare Agencies Increasingly Use Smaller Federal Funding Sources, Including Various Grants
- State and Local Funding for Child Welfare Has Largely Held Steady
- Child Welfare Agencies Are Using Fewer TANF Funds
- Child Welfare Agencies Are Relying Less on Social Services Block Grant Funds
- Child Welfare Agencies’ Use of Medicaid Has Increased Since 2012
- The Largest Share of Child Welfare Spending Is on Out-of-Home Placements
- Child Welfare Agencies’ Use of Title IV-E Funding Has Increased Since 2012
- Child Welfare Agencies’ Use of Title IV-B Funding Has Decreased
- Total Child Welfare Agency Spending, Across All Sources, Has Increased Over the Decade
- Child Welfare Agencies Draw on a Range of Federal Funding Sources, Such as Title IV-E
- Child Welfare Financing in Colorado: Current Landscape and Recommendations
- Funding Supports and Services for Young People Transitioning from Foster Care
- Federal and State/Local Child Welfare Agency Spending per Child, 2004–2014
- State Variation in Child Welfare Agency Use of Federal Funding Sources
- State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States