HHS Awards New Community Initiated Funding to Advance Equity in the Child Welfare System

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Administration on Children, Youth, and Families’ (ACYF) Children’s Bureau, announced the release of $4 million in community-initiated funding to support innovative, community-supported approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare systems. This new funding aligns directly with the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority of advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government.
 

ACF has been, and continues to be, committed to promoting equity for children, youth, families, and communities. This is exemplified through ACF’s Strategic Plan that seeks to advance equity by reducing structural barriers and eliminating l bias that prevents families’ social and economic well-being. In support of this priority, this funding will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of community-initiated approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare; and improving the safety, stability, and well-being of families in traditionally underserved communities.

“ACF is focused on making the child welfare system work for all families and ending long-standing disparities. Deeply rooted community-based organizations are often best positioned to meet families where they are and provide the supports and resources to keep families together,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Jeff Hild. “These grant recipients will identify local opportunities to embed fairness in decision-making processes and reduce barriers to equal opportunity.”

This community-based initiative, funded through the Children’s Bureau, will enable communities to identify and lead targeted solutions to local issues of systemic disproportionality and inequitable access to services at varying points across the child welfare continuum. Recipients will use this funding to address the needs they have identified in their own communities and work to design and implement innovative and culturally appropriate solutions, consistent with child welfare laws, to address systemic issues of racial bias and inequity. Projects will intentionally partner with families with lived experience to co-design and develop solutions and are encouraged to collaborate with culturally appropriate partners and stakeholders to enhance their programs.

“Equity is the foundation for all of Children’s Bureau’s initiatives,” said Children’s Bureau Associate Commissioner Aysha E. Schomburg. “At ACF, we believe that communities know their own needs best and are in the best position to provide innovative solutions to meet those needs and enhance equity for populations they serve.”

Recipients of the field-initiated approach grants are:

For more information about ACF and Children’s Bureau’s other child welfare work, please visit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb.

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