Administration for Children and Families

The federal government is launching a $30 million program to help states bolster and diversify their child care and preschool workforce. 

Federal funding is available to teach hotline workers and mandated reporters about the differences between poverty and “willful neglect.”

The government wants to give states the option to allow relatives caring for children to receive the same financial help as foster parents.

January Contreras, assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, says her goals include supporting, encouraging, and pushing states to prevent foster care.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced last March that it would begin the Child Welfare Study to Enhance Equity with Data

The number of youth in America's foster care systems dropped below 400,000 for the first time since 2012 according to new federal data

In a process that moved at light speed compared with the previous nominee to the job, January Contreras has been confirmed by the Senate to lead the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the agency that oversees most federal spending on family services and child welfare.

According to federal data, the number of children in foster care dropped in 2020 nationwide and in almost every state. Illinois was an exception.

The Biden administration may revise the handbook for evaluating services meant to prevent the use of foster care in some child welfare cases.