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Definitions of Child Welfare Activities
Allowed Under Title IV-B Subparts 1 and 2
(compiled from the Social Security Act and 45 Code of Federal Regulations)

Title IV-B Subpart 1 (Child Welfare Services)

From the Social Security Act, IV-B 1, Section 421:
PURPOSE: The purpose of this subpart is to promote State flexibility in the development and expansion of a coordinated child and family services program that utilizes community-based agencies and ensures all children are raised in safe, loving families, by:

1. protecting and promoting the welfare of all children;
2. preventing the neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children;
3. supporting at-risk families through services which allow children, where appropriate, to remain safely with their families or return to their families in a timely manner;
4. promoting the safety, permanence, and well-being of children in foster care and adoptive families; and
5. providing training, professional development and support to ensure a well-qualified child welfare workforce.

From 45 CFR 1357.10:
Child Welfare Services means public social services directed to accomplish the following purposes:

1. Protecting and promoting the welfare and safety of all children, including individuals with disabilities; homeless, dependent, or neglected children;
2. Preventing or remedying, or assisting in the solution of problems which may result in the neglect, abuse, exploitation, or delinquency of children;
3. Preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their families by identifying family problems and assisting families in resolving their problems and preventing the breakup of the family where the prevention of child removal is desirable and possible;
4. Restoring to their families children who have been removed and may be safely returned, by the provision of services to the child and the family;
5. Assuring adequate care of children away from their homes, in cases where the child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed for adoption; and
6. Placing children in suitable adoptive homes, in cases where restoration to the biological family is not possible or appropriate.

Title IV-B 2 - Promoting Safe and Stable Families

From the Social Security Act, IV-B 2
Sec.430. Purpose: The purpose of this program is to enable States [and eligible Tribes] to develop and establish, or expand, and to operate coordinated programs of community-based family support services, family preservation services, time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services to accomplish the following objectives:

1. To prevent child maltreatment among families at risk through the provision of supportive family services.
2. To assure children's safety within the home and preserve intact families in which children have been maltreated, when the family's problems can be addressed effectively.
3. To address the problems of families whose children have been placed in foster care so that reunification may occur in a safe and stable manner in accordance with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
4. To support adoptive families by providing support services as necessary so that they can make a lifetime commitment to their children.

Sec.431. (1) Family Preservation Services means services for children and families designed to help families (including adoptive and extended families) at risk or in crisis, including:

1. service programs designed to help children-
1. where safe and appropriate, return to families from which they have been removed; or
2. determined not to be safe and appropriate for a child, in some other planned, permanent living arrangement;
2. pre-placement preventive services programs, such as intensive family preservation programs, designed to help children at risk of foster care placement remain safely with their families;
3. service programs designed to provide follow-up care to families to whom a child has been returned after a foster care placement;
4. respite care of children to provide temporary relief for parents and other caregivers (including foster parents); and
5. services designed to improve parenting skills (by reinforcing parents' confidence in their strengths, and helping them to identify where improvement is needed and to obtain assistance in improving those skills) with respect to matters such as child development, family budgeting, coping with stress, health, and nutrition; and
6. infant safe haven programs to provide a way for a parent to safely relinquish a newborn infant at a safe haven designated pursuant to a State law.

Sec 431 (2) Family Support Services means community based services to promote the safety and well being of children and families designed to increase the strength and stability of families (including adoptive, foster, and extended families), to increase parents' confidence and competence in their parenting abilities, to afford children a safe, stable and supportive family environment, to strengthen parental relationships and promote healthy marriages, and otherwise to enhance child development.

Sec 431(7)(A) Time Limited Family Reunification Services means the services and activities described in subparagraph (B) that are provided to a child that is removed from the child's home and placed in a foster family home or a child care institution and to the parents or primary caregiver of such a child, in order to facilitate the reunification of the child safely and appropriately within a timely fashion, but only during the 15 month period that begins on the date that the child, pursuant to section 475(5)(F), is considered to have entered foster care.

(B) Services and Activities Described - The services and activities described in this subparagraph are the following:

1. Individual, group, and family counseling
2. Inpatient, residential, or outpatient substance abuse treatment services
3. Mental health services.
4. Assistance to address domestic violence.
5. Services designed to provide temporary child care and therapeutic services for families, including crisis nurseries.
6. Transportation to or from any of the services and activities described in this subparagraph.

Sec 431 (8) Adoption Promotion And Support Services means services and activities designed to encourage more adoptions out of the foster care system, when adoptions promote the best interests of children, including such activities as pre and post adoptive services and activities designed to expedite the adoption process and support adoptive families.

From 45 CFR PART 1357, Sec. 1357.10 Scope and definitions.
COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES refers to programs delivered in accessible settings in the community and responsive to the needs of the community and the individuals and families residing therein. These services may be provided under public or private nonprofit auspices.

FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES refers to services for children and families designed to protect children from harm and help families (including foster, adoptive, and extended families) at risk or in crisis, including--

1. Preplacement preventive services programs, such as intensive family preservation programs, designed to help children at risk of foster care placement remain with their families, where possible;
2. Service programs designed to help children, where appropriate, return to families from which they have been removed; or be placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or, if adoption or legal guardianship is determined not to be appropriate for a child, in some other planned, permanent living arrangement;
3. Service programs designed to provide follow-up care to families to whom a child has been returned after a foster care placement;
4. Respite care of children to provide temporary relief for parents and other caregivers (including foster parents);
5. Services designed to improve parenting skills (by reinforcing parents' confidence in their strengths, and helping them to identify where improvement is needed and to obtain assistance in improving those skills) with respect to matters such as child development, family budgeting, coping with stress, health, and nutrition; and
6. Case management services designed to stabilize families in crisis such as transportation, assistance with housing and utility payments, and access to adequate health care.

FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES means community-based services to promote the well-being of children and families designed to increase the strength and stability of families (including adoptive, foster, and extended families), to increase parents' confidence and competence in their parenting abilities, to afford children a stable and supportive family environment, and otherwise to enhance child development. Family support services may include:

(1) Services, including in-home visits, parent support groups, and other programs designed to improve parenting skills (by reinforcing parents' confidence in their strengths, and helping them to identify where improvement is needed and to obtain assistance in improving those skills) with respect to matters such as child development, family budgeting, coping with stress, health, and nutrition;

(2) Respite care of children to provide temporary relief for parents and other caregivers;

(3) Structured activities involving parents and children to strengthen the parent-child relationship;

(4) Drop-in centers to afford families opportunities for informal interaction with other families and with program staff;

(5) Transportation, information and referral services to afford families access to other community services, including child care, health care, nutrition programs, adult education literacy programs, legal services, and counseling and mentoring services; and

(6) Early developmental screening of children to assess the needs of such children, and assistance to families in securing specific services to meet these needs.

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