Starting July 4, 2026, eligible individuals may begin opening Trump Accounts for children under age 18. Created by the 2025 reconciliation law (P.L. 119-21), these new tax-advantaged savings accounts have the potential to help children build assets for adulthood. Recent federal guidance also creates a significant new opportunity for children and youth in foster care through the First Lady's Fostering the Future Initiative, making this an important area for child welfare agencies, advocates, philanthropy, and other partners to follow.  

More information about Trump Accounts is available at:

• TrumpAccounts.gov 

• Trump Accounts: Overview and Considerations (Congressional Research Service) 

• What to Know about Trump Accounts (Bipartisan Policy Center) 

Fostering the Future Accounts 

In June 2026, First Lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Fostering the Future Accounts, an initiative designed to expand access to Trump Accounts for children and youth in foster care. Accompanying guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department encourages states to proactively establish accounts for eligible children and identifies several potential public funding sources that may be used to support contributions.

The Opportunity and Benefit for Children 

Research on children's savings and asset-building consistently finds short and long-term benefits for young people, including financial capability and long-term economic outcomes. In addition, building awareness of asset-building can help youth see futures where their education, training, and career aspirations can be fulfilled. 

Young people with foster care experience often enter adulthood with few financial assets.  Fostering the Future Accounts offer a new opportunity to shift this historical trend by creating opportunities to build savings over time. Contributions to Fostering the Future Accounts are invested and grow over time. While there is a $5000 per year limit on contributions, contributions made by state and local governments and philanthropy are not included in that limit. 

A number of philanthropists have already committed funds to accounts and many employers have pledged to provide seed or matching contributions.  (Employers range from Uber and Chipotle to Comcast and Airlines.) 

These types of accounts are meant for long term savings rather than as savings accounts that one can draw on periodically. Individuals with Fostering the Future Accounts cannot withdraw funds until age 18. Upon turning age 18, the accounts can continue to grow tax-free for retirement by remaining invested, or they can be converted to another type of IRA (or ABLE account). Eligible withdrawals for certain uses (i.e. higher education, starting a business, buying a home) will generally be taxed at the beneficiary’s income tax rate.

How Accounts are Established for Children and Youth in Foster Care Can  

A child welfare agency of a state, territorial, or tribal government that is the legal guardian of an eligible child who has a Social Security Number and does not already have an account may elect to open an initial Trump Account for that child. To establish an account, agencies must follow state-specific procedures to complete, sign, and submit Form 4547, which serves as the formal election to create an initial account. [link to Treasury] 

Per federal guidance, states are strongly encouraged to adopt policies that explicitly authorize child welfare agencies, or their designees, to act on behalf of children in their care in establishing and managing these accounts. In addition, states are urged to proactively open Trump Accounts for eligible youth who do not already have one, ensuring broad and equitable access to this opportunity. [Treasury Department Press Statement.]

The following three policy documents provide a good starting point to understand the opportunities presented by Fostering the Future Accounts: 

1. ACF Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Fostering the Future Accounts for Youth in Foster Care

2. Joint ACF and Treasury Department Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Fostering the Future Powered by Trump Accounts, and

3. ACF DCL on Leveraging Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to Support Trump Accounts

The federal guidance: 

• Encourages Governors to commit to establishing Fostering the Future Accounts for eligible children in foster care 

  • To date, at least 23 Governors have made this commitment including: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia;

• Authorizes child welfare agencies to establish Fostering the Future Accounts on behalf of eligible children and youth in foster care;

• Explains how Survivor’s Benefits may be deposited into these account; and 

• Explains how unobligated TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) and maintenance-of-effort funds may be used for contributions  

Although implementation guidance will continue to evolve, two immediate opportunities are already clear:

• Opening accounts for eligible children born between January 2025 and December 2028 creates a pathway to receive the federal $1,000 pilot contribution.

• Establishing accounts for eligible children of all ages ensures they are ready to receive future contributions from states, philanthropy, employers, or other partners.

How Child Welfare Advocates and Community Leaders Can Get Involved  

Upon the launch of Fostering the Future Accounts on July 4, 2026, child welfare advocates and stakeholders can gear up for the work ahead to help ensure that young people in foster care experience the benefits of these accounts. They can do this by: 

• Learn more about Fostering the Future Accounts and how they work;

• Learn about any other asset building vehicles in your state; 

• If your Governor has signed the pledge to open Fostering the Future Accounts for youth in foster care, engage with the Governor’s office, child welfare agency, and State Treasurer's office on implementation discussions;  

• If your Governor has not signed the pledge, organize stakeholders to request that your state join the pledge;

• Engage philanthropy, employers, financial institutions, and community partners to explore contribution strategies and join implementation discussions. 

• Share implementation challenges and promising practices 

This page will be updated regularly as additional federal guidance and implementation resources become available.

Instead, it offers implementation considerations informed by lived expertise, systems design, and youth governance practices to help policymakers, child welfare leaders, and implementation partners anticipate practical challenges before they become barriers for young people.

Implementation planning is most effective when practical realities are considered before procedures are finalized. By anticipating potential barriers early, agencies can reduce administrative burden, improve consistency across jurisdictions, and increase the likelihood that every eligible young person can benefit from the opportunity as intended.

The questions and recommendations presented are intended to strengthen consistency, accessibility, and accountability while ensuring that the policy functions as intended for the youth it is designed to serve.

Publication Authored by:

Jaleshia "Jay" Brown

Virtue Visionary LLC, Founder.

Overview of the Section

Title IV-B funds can be used to address a diverse set of needs, including preventing abuse and neglect, strengthening families, supporting children and youth who are in foster care, and promoting reunification and permanency. You can read more about those goals in our Primer on IV-B.

As they develop their Child and Family Services Plans, child welfare agencies set forth what services are available and who is eligible for those services. Although many services have been made available to youth with foster care experience and kinship caregivers, the 2025 Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (Supporting America’s Families Act) specifically includes them as eligible recipients for services funded through Title IV-B. This eliminates any confusion as to whether they are eligible and opens a door for jurisdictions to expand eligibility to new groups who may benefit from existing services.

As the Congressional Research Service describes, the Act “clarifies that some or all PSSF family support and family preservation services may be made available to youth (in addition to children and families as noted in current law) and it defines a ‘youth’ as ‘an individual who has not attained 26 years of age.’” That definition became effective October 1, 2025.

The Act also makes specific references to kinship caregivers, adding “kinship families” or “kinship caregivers” directly into the PSSF definitions of “family support” and “family preservation” services, replacing “extended families” and “other caregivers.” It specifically includes kinship caregivers as eligible to receive family reunification services.

Provisions from this part of section 10 come from The Empowering Kinship Caregivers and Youth Act (HR 8743), sponsored by Representatives Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) and Donald Davis (D-NC).

Ensuring Youth and Kin Have Access to Services is Critical to Meeting the Goals of Title IV-B

Ensuring that both youth and kinship caregivers have access to services is essential for achieving the ultimate goals of the Title IV-B funding stream – such as protecting children from abuse and neglect, ensuring the well-being of those in foster care, and enabling permanency.

Youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood face a unique set of challenges. Too often youth leave foster care without a permanent family. As a result, they are more likely to experience unstable and unsafe housing and remain disconnected from post-secondary education and the workforce.  The 2023 Fostering Youth Transitions report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that “even though the overall number of young people in foster care has declined, teenagers and young adults ages 16 to 21 are less likely to leave foster care with permanent families in 2021 than they were in 2016. Fewer than half leave foster care to live with adoptive families or guardians or return to their birth families.”

Explicitly naming youth up to age 26 as eligible for Title IV-B funded services helps raise awareness of the challenges these young people face and promote services to meet those needs. Title IV-B can complement other funding streams for older youth, such as extended Title IV-E foster care and the John H Chafee Foster Care Program, and be leveraged to expand services and help them achieve permanency, find stable housing, gain access to post-secondary education and workforce training, and more.

Kinship caregivers are a key resource for children and youth at every stage of child welfare involvement. As with explicitly naming youth as eligible, clarifying the eligibility of kin can help more child welfare agencies connect kin to needed resources. Generations United explains it this way:

“HR 9076 clarifies that kinship caregivers are eligible to receive all IV-B funded services available to foster parents. While most states have interpreted the law to count kin caregivers as foster parents, because of ambiguity in the statute, some states have declined to provide these services to kin caregivers. This clarification will help ensure that kin caregivers receive the support to which they are entitled.”

In 2024, 39% of all children in foster care were placed with kin. In many cases, kin placements happen when the child welfare agency reaches out to relatives unexpectedly about a child or children in need. The family is often unprepared and may face financial challenges or need basic items to care for them. In addition, kinship caregivers may or may not become a licensed foster home, which can impact what services and how much financial support they receive. 

This new provision makes it clear that Title IV-B resources can be leveraged to help states fill in gaps and provide more support to kinship caregivers and help young people successfully transition to adulthood.

Implementation Examples

Across the country, child welfare agencies are providing innovative and robust services for youth transitioning from foster care and kinship caregivers. As jurisdictions seek to expand their offerings through Title IV-B and other funding sources, these examples show the types of programs that can provide key resources for youth and kin.

Youth

• In Allegheny County, the 412 Youth Zone supports young adults, aged 16 to 23, who are transitioning out of the foster care system. Coaches and support staff offer individualized and collaborative support in a variety of areas including education, life skills, housing needs, prevention services, and employment.

• Nebraska Children and Family Foundation’s Connected Youth Initiative  is a public-private partnership and cross-sector collaboration of public government agencies, community-based organizations and service providers, funders, and young leaders that want to improve the quality of life for transition-aged young people aged 14-26 through evidence-based services such as coaching, financial assistance, housing, and education and career pathways. 

Kinship

• In Massachusetts, its State Commission on the Status of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren uses title IV-B, part 2 funds to pay for its activities on behalf of kinship families. The Commission’s mission is to provide information, resources, advocacy, and supports to grandparents raising grandchildren, relative caregivers, and service providers throughout the state. Grandparents are connected to local support groups and legal and financial resources (e.g., food, healthcare, childcare, etc.).

• In Georgia, Project GRANDD (Grandparents Raising And Nurturing Dependents with Disabilities) at Innovative Solutions for Disadvantage & Disabilities (ISDD) applies for and receives Title IV-B, Part 2 funds annually as part of its diversified funding. The almost $150,000 annually it receives (with a 25% non-federal match) is an important component of this community non-profit’s budget. The services funded through these federal monies include case management (broken down into service coordination, information and referral, and advocacy), intake assessments, exit assessments, health education, parent education, educational supports, life skills, support groups (adults, children, teens – all separate services), childcare, transportation assistance, emergency aid, enrichment, respite, and legal services. 

Implementation Tips

Review your state’s existing IV-B plan.

Every state has a Child and Family Services Plan that outlines the goals and vision for the child welfare system, along with the specific policies and practices they plan to use to achieve those goals. It also describes specific services and their eligibility requirements.

Obtain your state’s plan (find it here, or from your state child welfare agency), and review it to understand if IV-B is currently used to support older youth or kinship families.

Get to know the current landscape of policies and practice.

Look beyond IV-B to other policies and programs in your state that support older youth and kinship caregivers. Here are some good places to start: 

• For older youth, find out if and how your state has extended foster care to youth after age 18 through Title IV-E funding. Explore how your state utilizes John H. Chafee Program funding. Both are often described as part of a state’s Child and Family Services Plan. The Fostering Youth Transitions report also features state data profiles, showcasing the most utilized Chafee services.

• For kin, the Child and Family Services Plan should outline how the state is approaching kinship care and whether there are kinship navigator programs in your state. Grandfamilies.org also has GRANDFacts Sheets for every state that provide data and information on programs. The website can also be searched for state laws and policies on a number of kinship care topics. 

Beyond those funded directly by the child welfare system, learn more about what services community-based programs offer and where there may be gaps.

If programs already exist in your community to support older youth or kinship caregivers, learn more about who they serve, what outcomes they achieve, how they are funded, and what gaps or needs they’ve identified.

Review relevant data.

There are resources that can help you understand and access data related to kinship care and older youth transitioning from foster care.

For kinship care:

• Child Trends has state fact sheets on kinship caregiving.

• Generations United has this data reference guide that shares what data is available on kinship families.

• The AFCARS Dashboard provides statistics such as children and youth in licensed and unlicensed kinship care, disaggregated by age and race.

• Kids Count Kinship Care indicator data shares statistics on children in kinship care outside of foster care placements.

• Individual kinship navigator programs likely collect data on the number of caregivers served and what resources are most needed.

• Your state agency may have more detailed information about kinship care that can be accessed.

Related to older youth:

• Annie E. Casey Foundation Foster Youth Transitions 2023 provides date level data accompanied by data tables.

• Child Trends conducts research on Transition-age Youth.

• The AFCARS Dashboard highlights many data points disaggregated by age, including numbers of youth leaving foster care to emancipation.

Engage key stakeholders, including those who have experienced the system. 

Reach out to organizations in your community or state who are supporting kinship families. Work with organizations to bring together kinship families to learn more about their experiences. Make sure you talk with families who are caring for children of different ages, in different geographic areas, and with different cultures and customs. Kinship families’ needs, and what services are available to support them, can vary widely based on these factors.

Youth transitioning from foster care are also a diverse group, living in diverse locations and with unique needs. Contact organizations that are working with and supporting these young people in your community and across the state. Be sure to talk with youth at different stages of their transition, taking different paths, and in different parts of the state.

Family Resource Centers may also be supporting both kinship families and transition-age youth and often have a good sense of needs and gaps in services. There will also be a forthcoming explainer on consulting with lived experts in developing IV-B plans (watch for it on the Blueprint page) will include ideas for how to find and partner with lived experts.

Along with lived experts, work with agency leadership to further unpack how this new opportunity could help provide more comprehensive supports for young people and kinship families.

Take action.

Based on what you’ve learned from the data and from key stakeholders, assess opportunities for starting new (or expanding existing) services and take the next steps towards implementation.

Consult with colleagues and/or with other states who have similar programs for helpful examples such as in designing the service; updating policies and procedures; planning for funding and sustainability; determining an appropriate evaluation; or other steps that are determined in partnership by those who would receive the services.

Resources for Going Deeper

Overview of the Section

Under section 422(b)(17) of the Social Security Act, child welfare agency caseworkers are required to meet in person with the children and youth on their caseloads at least once per month. This requirement has been a cornerstone of child welfare practice for many years. The new provision of the Supporting America’s Families Act modifies that requirement to allow virtual visits for youth who are in foster care and over the age of 18 and who consent to receive virtual visits.

The federal Child Welfare Policy Manual section 7.3, Question 8 (updated in October 2025) elaborates and interprets on this new option:

“For youth in foster care who have attained the age of 18 years, and who have provided informed consent for virtual visits, a title IV-B agency may use virtual caseworker visits to meet the requirements for monthly caseworker visits in 422(b)(17) of the Act. However, for children in foster care who have not attained the age of 18 years, videoconferencing or any other similar form of technology between the child and caseworker does not serve as a monthly caseworker visit for the purposes of meeting the requirements of section 422(b)(17) of the Act. Rather, for children in foster care who have not attained the age of 18, a monthly caseworker visit must be conducted face-to-face and held in person. Furthermore, the Act requires State and Tribal title IV-B agencies to describe standards for monthly caseworker visits with all children and youth in foster care that are well-planned and focused on issues pertinent to case planning and service delivery to ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of the child.”[1]

If Implemented Well, Virtual Case Visits Can Help Youth Stay Connected to Their Caseworkers, Without Disrupting School, Work or Other Activities

When carefully designed, virtual monthly visits can provide young adults in extended foster care with the support needed and expanded opportunity. The option to provide virtual caseworker visits for young people over age 18 can build on experiences in child welfare and other fields during the COVID 19 pandemic. At that time, the federal government allowed certain flexibilities to the monthly caseworker visit requirement including allowing virtual visits. In addition, mental, behavioral and physical health providers began providing many more services through virtual settings. As a result, the human services field learned a lot about the advantages and challenges of providing services and support through virtual means. See the Resources for Going Deeper section below for more information on lessons learned from other sectors.    

Research on youth development can help leaders and caseworkers understand what is developmentally appropriate for 18- to 21-year-olds. At this age, young people are considered “emerging adults” and are moving towards achieving more autonomy. In general, they are spending more time away from parental figures and are making more decisions for themselves. Having the ability to pursue educational and work opportunities, in addition to building relationships, supports their healthy development.

However, continued healthy connections with adults and access to adult guidance, support, and resources during this developmental stage remain absolutely critical to their success. A consensus statement written by a number of researchers across the U.S. and other countries, summarizes it this way: “Adolescents’ ability to successfully navigate these changes, develop autonomy, succeed academically, and develop strong peer relationships depends on a strong relationship with a “parent” and other family members whom they trust to be acting in their best interest while taking into account their expressed needs.” A young person’s caseworker plays a critical role in ensuring that the youth has these relationships and community connections as they make their path towards adulthood. Making the decision whether and how to do virtual visits should take these considerations in mind.

States can use implementation of this option as an opportunity to develop practice standards for both in-person and virtual visits that are informed by the wealth of knowledge that we have about adolescent development and emerging adulthood and by young people themselves. This opportunity could enhance the value of these contacts and help build trust between caseworkers and youth. 

Implementation Considerations

Given the advantages and challenges of virtual caseworker visits, as well as the unique developmental stage of young adulthood, states must engage in thoughtful planning to ensure virtual visits are meaningful. As a first step in taking up this option from the Supporting America’s Families Act, states must update their monthly visit standards. Updated visit standards should be designed with input from young people and include clear written guidance for caseworkers.

Specifically, the guidance for caseworkers should answer the following questions:

• Eligibility: Which young people between ages 18 and 21 would benefit from having virtual visits with their caseworker? What types of cases/circumstances may not be well-suited for virtual visits?  What special considerations should be given to young people who are in residential settings, placed out-of-state, or coping with complex issues relating to physical, emotional, and mental health challenges?

• Content: How will virtual visits meet the standards of an in-person visit, including an assessment of the young person’s safety and well-being and their connections to other adults and support? What indicators will be used when the caseworker is not face-to-face?

• Engagement and Communication: What skills are needed to engage young adults virtually that may differ from in person engagement? How will caseworkers take into account dynamics and behavior related to the youth’s developmental phase? For example, if the youth is not talkative or responsive in a virtual conversation, what cues and other indicators will be used? What training is needed for the caseworker to adequately engage a young adult virtually? What developmentally appropriate strategies should be used to ensure youth-centered communication and engagement during virtual visits.

• Connecting Community Based Resources: If the young person is placed out of state, how will information be provided to youth to ensure that they have a support network and access to important resources?

• Consent: What is the consent language, how and on what frequency will young people be asked to consent to virtual visits, and how will they be prepared for the consent process before they turn 18? How will informed consent be documented?

• Frequency: How often can virtual visits occur and when are in-person visits required? Are a certain number of in-person visits required per year? How can a young person request an in-person meeting when it's needed?

• Potential difficulties: What gaps or challenges might happen during virtual visits and how will they be addressed?

• Privacy: How will the privacy of a young person be ensured during the virtual visit?

• Technology: What technology needs are required for the virtual visit and how will they be met?

• Accountability: How will the agency know whether the virtual monthly visits are meeting the needs of young adults in foster care?

• Training: What caseworker training is necessary to prepare them to provide virtual visits to young adults?

• Creating feedback loops: Will methods like anonymous surveys or regular touchpoints be used to gauge the response and impact of virtual visits on youth and caseworkers? Would piloting virtual visits allow the state to proceed with more information?

States are beginning to grapple with these important questions as they revise their monthly caseworker visits standards to include virtual visits for young adults. California currently has pending legislation, AB 2684, to implement this option with respect to youth in extended foster care who are placed out of state. We will share additional examples as they become available.

Implementation Tips from the Advocacy Hub

These core action steps can help build the blueprint for Title IV-B in states and communities. Read more about why we chose these steps in our intro to the series. 

Get to know the current landscape of policies, practice, and data.

Review existing monthly caseworker visit standards and become familiar with current requirements. Review recent CFSR and PIPs to see what strengths and challenges your state has faced related to meeting existing monthly caseworker requirements

Explore whether your child welfare agency allowed virtual visits during COVID. What did those look like? What lessons were learned?

Explore other social services in your state that may leverage virtual visits such as behavioral or physical health. What lessons learned can those systems share?

Engage key stakeholders, including those who have experienced the system.

Consult with young people who have experience in foster care. It is important to include youth from a range of ages and with varied experiences. For example, younger teens can help consider what preparation they need prior to turning 18 in order to make informed consent, and young adults can reflect on how virtual visits would be most helpful and what guardrails need to be in place.

Discuss the implementation considerations described above and what would work for young adults in your state and communities. Bring together the young people with professionals including caseworkers who work with older youth and young adults, behavioral and mental health providers, extended foster care and Chafee program providers, and attorneys that represent older youth to develop recommendations and guidelines for utilizing virtual caseworker visits. Discuss what caseworker training might be necessary. If you had virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, ask caseworkers and youth about the successes and challenges.

Take action. 

Find out the timing and process in your state for developing guidelines and utilizing virtual caseworker visits for young adults. Monitor implementation and create a feedback loop for young people and caseworkers. Engage in an ongoing CQI process to ensure that virtual visits are meeting young people’s needs.

Keep an eye on the Child Welfare Hub IV-B implementation community! We’ll be sharing example policies from states as they become available.

Resources for Going Deeper

[1] The policy manual goes on to describe very limited circumstances when a child or youth under age 18 or without consent may receive virtual visits, such as those when in person contact is limited due to health concerns, and what protections must be in place during those circumstances.

Overview of the Section

Community support portals leverage technology to help families connect to needed services and supports. The Supporting America’s Families Act explicitly permits the use of Title IV-B Subpart 2 funds (also known as the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program) for these portals – which are also referred to as “electronic or digital portals.” The Congressional Research Service summarizes: “Caseworkers may use such portals to link specific community resources (e.g., a bed, toddler clothing) with the specific needs of families they are working with.”

“Government may not be able to love a child, but it can help ensure that organizations like CarePortal have the tools they need to support families. Time and again, we see neighbors and local partners stepping in to meet urgent needs. When a family gets the right help at the right moment, it can be the difference between keeping that family together and a child entering foster care.”

Representative Rudy Yakym (IN-02)

The Act also seeks to protect the privacy of the families who use community support portals by requiring that personally identifiable information is not retained or shared unless the user consents to it.

Provisions from this part of Section 6 were adapted from the Helping Households And Neighbors Distribute Services for Families Act, or Helping HANDS for Families Act, introduced by Representative Carol Miller (R-WV), and co-sponsored by Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) and Representative Mike Carey (R-OH).

Community Support Portals Connect Families in Crisis to Needed Resources

It is difficult for families – and those who are supporting them – to stay informed about the array of resources that are available in each community. In addition, there are organizations and people that can help families in need, yet they must find a way to let their wider community know exactly how they can help.

Community support portals link those who can provide support with those who need it. Organizations or individuals who can support families can participate in a portal and share what resources they have available. For example, a church food pantry that is open for all families on Tuesdays, or a mental health provider who supports those with substance use challenges, can join a portal in their community to share that they are available to help. Other services that can be shared through a portal include access to clothing, bedding, diapers, temporary housing, or links to health or behavioral health services or crisis childcare. In some cases, portals can help identify resources that align with a family’s cultural, religious or linguistic needs.

Portals can be publicly available or restricted to staff at agencies or organizations. If publicly available, families can search portals directly to find resources in their community that meet their specific needs. Once a family has come to the attention of an agency or organization, staff members can use a portal to find resources for families, children and youth.

A significant benefit of community support portals is their accessibility and anonymity, regardless of who is using them. They allow caseworkers and other frontline staff to more easily identify resources and connect families to them, while also giving families a way to locate resources without facing stigma, and ideally before they are in crisis. For this reason, it is important that identifiable family data is protected. However, collecting general information on what types of support community members are seeking can help policymakers and community leaders better identify needs and gaps. 

Implementation Examples

Community support portals can cover different geographic areas, age ranges, and kinds of services. Some examples include:

• CarePortal provides a platform designed for the prevention and protection of vulnerable children and families. Caseworkers and child-serving professionals can submit requests for a child in need. Following a review, local churches and community members are made aware of the need and given the opportunity to respond. The supports can address physical needs, as well as help build social support systems.

• United Way 211 is a free, confidential service that connects people to local resources such as housing, food, utilities and healthcare. It can be accessed by phone by dialing 2-1-1 and through an online portal. 211 operators are based in local nonprofits.

• Findhelp.org is an online platform that connects individuals to food, housing, health care, and other resources and offers online solutions to support social care providers working with families. 

• Missouri Family Resources is an example of a state-level portal. It helps identify resources, community programs, and childhood services for families with young children under age 5.

• Network of Care is an online platform that states and communities can use to develop a digital portal across health and social services areas. For example, see the portals from Solano Cares and Mississippi Department of Mental Health.

Implementation Tips from the Advocacy Hub

These core action steps can help build the blueprint for Title IV-B in states and communities. Read more about why we chose these steps in our intro to the series. 

Review your state’s existing IV-B plan.

Every state has a Child and Family Services Plan that outlines the goals and vision for the child welfare system, along with the specific policies and practices they plan to use to achieve those goals.

Obtain your state plan (find it here, or from your state child welfare agency) and learn if IV-B funds already support community support portals. If yes, what types of services, populations and communities do the IV-B funded portal(s) cover?

Get to know the current landscape of policies, practice, and data.

Get to know the array of community support portals that exist in your state. Find out if CarePortal, United Way 211, FindHelp.org, or other platforms support any communities in your state. Reach out to child welfare agency staff, Family Resource Centers, and other family-serving organizations to see if there are portals that they are accessing.

Map out what geographic areas in your state have access to community support portals, and take note of:

• What types of resources the portals cover,

• What populations they serve, and

• How they are currently funded.

Engage key stakeholders, including those who have experienced the system.

Community support portals help families in need, and those supporting them, to find resources. Engage representatives from all potential users to understand what’s currently working and where gaps exist.

• If your state already has community support portals, reach out to the organizations who host them to learn more about their current efforts, including successes and challenges.

• Bring together families and youth who have experienced the system to learn about their knowledge of portals. Have they ever accessed a community support portal themselves? If so, was it helpful? How did they find out about the portal? If they haven’t used one, what services and supports have they needed and been unable to find resources for?

• Child welfare staff can share what community support portals they currently use, whether the portals were helpful in linking families to resources, and where gaps still exist. They can also help understand what types of resources or services are hardest to find for families, and therefore where portals could be most useful.

• You can also talk with Family Resource Centers and other community-based organizations to learn about their experiences, or lack thereof, with community support portals and where they see opportunities or gaps. 

Take action. 

Once you understand what is currently available and what gaps exist, research whether existing models could be right for families in your community.

• Is there a model already operating in your state that could be expanded to meet the needs of more communities?

• Is there a type of service that families, youth, and/or frontline workers need to locate, but isn’t currently covered by a portal?

Work with nonprofits and/or platforms to estimate the cost and describe the need and potential impact. Bring this information and the perspectives of lived experts to the next IV-B planning process to consider whether an investment in a community support portal would benefit families, youth and children in your state.

Overview of the Section

All jurisdictions that receive federal child welfare funds, including funds from Title IV-B, must create a five-year Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) to lay out their goals and objectives for their child welfare systems. These plans are quite lengthy – for example, Pennsylvania’s 2020-2024 plan clocked in at 204 pages and Idaho’s plan was at 134. Each jurisdiction also develops an Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR), sharing their progress towards the goals from their CFSP. Plans and annual reports are submitted to and approved by the federal Children’s Bureau. Because the plans are comprehensive, they provide an important information source for advocates and the public. You can read more about that process during the most recent round of reporting on the Children’s Bureau’s website. A separate page on the Children’s Bureau website allows you to search for state plans.

This section of the Supporting America’s Families Act strives to streamline the planning process for agency leaders. It sets forth a list of requirements for the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to do by January 4, 2027 (2 years from enactment). As described by the Congressional Research Service, HHS must:

• “Review, revise, and streamline data collection forms required under Title IV-B;

• Make changes to ensure consistency between Title IV-B fiscal and oversight requirements and those in other federal programs (based on input from recipients);

• Conduct an analysis of the number of hours recipients spend completing Title IVB paperwork requirements;

• Consult with the recipients on how to reduce those hours by at least 15%; and

• Respect the sovereignty of tribes while completing this work.”

In conjunction with implementation of this provision, the Children’s Bureau has taken significant steps to reduce administrative burden on child welfare agencies. In April 2026, it released PI-26-03, providing instructions on the upcoming submissions of APSRs. These include the requirement that “the APSR submission should not exceed five (5) pages… Consistent with the statutory purpose of annual progress reporting, ACF requests that jurisdictions succinctly summarize major changes, progress, and accomplishments related to their Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP). Submissions should focus on substantial updates since the prior APSR, including notable advancements, revisions to strategies, and priority areas for the coming year.” ACF Assistant Secretary Adams speaks about his goals to reduce administrative burdens here.

Together with streamlining the reporting requirements, the Act creates additional requirements for HHS to make state plans more accessible and useful to the field, effective October 1, 2025. Specifically, the Act requires HHS to:

• “Develop a standardized format for CWS and PSSF state plans used for monitoring compliance with federal plan requirements;

• Make the plans available on a public website;

• Produce comparisons and analyses of trends in state plans (to inform technical assistance and policy development); and

• As it deems appropriate, include aggregated national summaries of state plan information on the public website.”

As described above, the Children’s Bureau website has an interactive map that allows the public to search for state plans.

Provisions from this part of section 6 come from the Reducing Administrative Burden for Child Welfare Agencies Act, sponsored by Representative Lloyd Smucker (R-PA).

Administering federal funding and programs can be time-consuming and inefficient for state agencies.

State leaders have reported that there is a significant administrative burden in creating their plans and overseeing the administration of federal funding, taking away valuable staff time that is needed to serve children and families. At a congressional hearing in 2023, Tracy Gruber, the executive director of Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services described it this way:

We must reduce the administrative burdens on states and the individuals being served in this system supported by multiple funding streams. [Utah’s] DHHS operates extensive administrative infrastructure to manage programs, finances, and reporting of federal programs and dollars. This includes workers in department and division-level financial teams, DCFS regions, and eligibility determination teams exclusively to manage federal dollars. Our central office has over 20 program administrators responsible for various federal programs… Title IV-B contributes to the need for this extensive administrative infrastructure simply by having different funding allocation formulas and purposes for its two parts. The process of budgeting and accounting alone creates challenges for the administration of the grants.

Additionally, the administrative burden placed upon caseworkers through required documentation results in more time spent at a computer than with a family. A caseworker can’t be expected to provide quality care and thorough investigations, all while spending more than half of their time completing required documentation…. A streamlined, less-restricted process is necessary to get caseworkers back in the homes of children and families in the proper amount. On a critical indicator of family engagement, our staff have reported that they cannot engage with families to the extent they would like because countless administrative tasks burden them.

These burdens are also placed on the families. We must help families without creating bureaucratic barriers that prevent them from accessing resources and services, particularly given that these resources are a protective factor in preventing abuse and neglect.

The Supporting America’s Families Act requires the federal government to look into the administrative burden on states and create streamlined forms and processes that will eliminate the challenges raised by Director Gruber.

Implementation Considerations

In July 2025, the Children’s Bureau placed a Request for Public Comment in the Federal Registrar, asking for comments on a number of issues connected to implementing the Act, including this requirement to reduce administrative burden (Vol. 90, No. 138). Several state agencies and tribal entities submitted comments that addressed administrative burden including Wisconsin, South Carolina, the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Pennsylvania, Alaska, South Dakota, and Ohio. These entities shared ideas for how HHS could reduce administrative burden, such as:

• Prioritizing collection of information and data that are also useful to states, tribes and territories in their IV-B implementation,

• Eliminating data and information that are reported elsewhere, such as caseworker visits, ICWA/Court reporting, and narrative and financial details,

• Creating an integrated plan across various federal programs (e.g., Title IV-B, Chafee and CAPTA), and

• Utilizing templates, like the 2026 State APSR Checklist or what tribes currently use for IV-B.

Implementation Tips

Watch for new guidance.

This new requirement will impact what states submit in their IV-B plans, what data they report on, and what is publicly available. Check ACF’s website regularly and sign up to receive press releases from ACF here: https://cloud.connect.hhs.gov/news-sign-up.

Review the guidance when it is released and assess what has changed.

Once the new guidance is released, do a crosswalk with the information contained in prior state reports to understand what new data elements and updates will be required, as well as what your state will no longer need to report on. Think about whether there is information in the old reports that will no longer be available, and if or how that information has been used in the past. 

Engage with your child welfare agency to ensure that community partners are involved in decisions about programs and services included in the state’s Child and Family Services Plan. Federal law requires broad community involvement and consultation in this planning process.

Engage key stakeholders, including those who have experienced the system.

Bring together agency staff, youth, parents and caregivers, and consider questions such as:

• Do the new requirements include data or information elements that are clearer and easier to understand and use?

• Do the requirements include any entirely new data or information that wasn’t previously available? How might those be useful?

• Who could benefit from the information in the new reporting requirements? Practitioners, programs, advocates, parents? How can we make the new report accessible to them? 

• Is there any data or information that was previously collected that is no longer required by HHS? If yes, how were those data used in the past? Are they reported in any other format? How can we protect any useful information from being lost? 

• How can the new planning, data collection and reporting requirements better inform our state’s effective implementation of IV-B?

Take action.

The new planning, data collection and reporting requirements are an opportunity to become more familiar with your state’s IV-B program and how it intersects with other child welfare programs. It also gives agencies, programs, and advocates an ideal time to look at what data is collected and how it is being used by stakeholders. Leaders can leverage this time of transition to both reduce administrative burden and address any data or reporting gaps.