CB Fact Sheet
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Mission Statement
The Children’s Bureau partners with federal, state, tribal and local agencies to improve the overall health and well-being of our nation’s children and families. With an annual budget of almost $8 billion, CB provides support and guidance to programs that focus on:
- Strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect
- Protecting children when abuse or neglect has occurred
- Ensuring that every child and youth has a permanent family or family connection
Brief Description
Purpose
CB seeks to improve outcomes in the following key areas:
- Safety: Preventing and responding to maltreatment of children
- Permanency: Stabilizing children’s living situations and preserving family relationships and connections
- Well-Being: Enhancing families’ capacity to meet their children’s physical, mental health and educational needs
How it is Administered
To achieve our goals, we participate in a variety of projects, including:
- Providing guidance on federal law, policy and program regulations
- Funding essential services, helping states and tribes operate every aspect of their child welfare systems
- Supporting innovation through competitive, peer-reviewed grants for research and program development
- Offering training and technical assistance to improve child welfare service delivery
- Monitoring child welfare services to help states and tribes achieve positive outcomes for children and families
- Sharing research to help child welfare professionals improve their services
Brief History of Program
CB is the first federal agency within the U.S. Government— and in fact, the world—to focus exclusively on improving the lives of children and families. Since its creation by President William Howard Taft in 1912, the bureau has tackled some of our nation’s most pressing social issues, including:
- Infant and maternal death
- Child labor
- Orphanages
- Child health and recreation
- Delinquency and juvenile courts
- Family economic security
- Abused and neglected children
- Foster care
In each of these areas, the bureau has provided groundbreaking leadership and garnered critical resources to improve the lives of children and families. We look forward to celebrating a full century of progress on our centennial anniversary, April 9, 2012.
Number of Children/Youth Served** by the Foster Care System
Children served in:
2008: 745,197
2009: 699,693
2010: 622,467
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau’s Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), as of September 2011.
**This is an estimated count of all children who were in the public foster care system during the federal fiscal year. This number is the sum of two mutually exclusive groups of children: the children who are already in care on the first day of the federal fiscal year (as of Oct. 1) and the children who entered foster care during the year. An individual child is counted only once for each year.
Fiscal Year Budgets from 2009-2011
The Children’s Bureau operates on an annual budget of approximately $8 billion.
General Information
Director/Commissioner in Charge of Program
Joe Bock
Physical Address
Children’s Bureau Administration on Children, Youth and Families
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW Eighth Floor
Washington, DC, 20024
Website Link
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb
