Supporting America's Children and Families Act - P.L. 118-258

Overview

H.R. 9076
Enacted January 4, 2025

Purpose: To reauthorize title IV-B of the Social Security Act, including both subpart 1 and subpart 2.

Note: The Children’s Bureau offers guidance on of this legislation in Information Memorandum ACF-ACYF-CB-IM-25-04, issued June 18, 2025.

Major Provisions of the Act

• Reauthorized through fiscal year (FY) 2029 certain child and family services and modified programs related to prevention services, youth in foster care, parental substance use disorder, and kinship caregiving, which are generally administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
• Reauthorized funding through FY 2029 for the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services and the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs
• Required 3% of allocated funding to be paid directly to Indian Tribes, which shall be paid directly to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations with approved plans
• Amended the State plan requirement to include how the State will ensure timely notice to Indian Tribes of State custody proceedings involving Indian children; foster care or adoptive placements of Indian children; and case recordkeeping as matters relating to transfers of jurisdiction, termination of parental rights, and active efforts
• Reauthorized through FY 2029 the Court Improvement Program and required ACF to issue guidance for the technological changes needed to conduct proceedings remotely
• Expanded regional partnership grants to address parental substance use disorder as a cause of child removal
• Required ACF to review administrative requirements for State child welfare agencies and explore ways to reduce the compliance time
• Authorized grants to States and other specified organizations to evaluate child and family services and kinship navigator programs
• Required States to take steps to ensure that in any judicial proceeding involving a child in which there is an allegation of child abuse or neglect, information about available independent legal representation is provided to the child, as appropriate, and any individual who is a parent, guardian, or has legal custody of the child
• Required State plans for child welfare services to describe how States may offer virtual caseworker visits to youth in care who are over age 18 and have consented to such visits
• Reauthorized grants to States for caseworker support
• Authorized demonstration grants to support relationships between children in foster care and their incarcerated parents
• Amended § 629a to provide nonrecurring short-term benefits (including supports related to housing instability, utilities, transportation, and food assistance, among other basic needs) that address immediate needs related to a specific crisis situation or event affecting the ability of a child to remain in their home
• Amended the State plan provisions to require States to describe the policies in place, including training for employees, to address child welfare reports and investigations of neglect concerning the living arrangements or subsistence needs of a child with the goal of preventing the separation of a child from their parent solely due to poverty and to ensure access to the services described in § 629a
• Modified certain requirements regarding data collection by reviewing and revising administrative data-collection instruments and forms to eliminate duplication and streamline reporting requirements
• Authorized technical assistance for programs relating to behavioral health services
• Required ACF to report on postadoption and subsidized guardianship services

The bill takes effect on October 1, 2025.