Congress Passes HR 2883, Extends IV-E Waiver Authority

September 27, 2011 - Last Friday afternoon, Congress passed HR 2883, the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, partly a routine reauthorization of funding for core Child Welfare programs, and partly a further step towards institutionalizing Title IV-E Waivers, like that under which Alameda and Los Angeles Counties operate their child welfare and foster care programs. National Center for Youth Law recently provided a report on the as yet inconclusive outcomes of the two counties' participation in the IV-E Waiver. A broader synthesis of IV-E Waiver experiments around the country is here.

The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and in the House by Reps. Geoff Davis (R-Kentucky) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas). Representative Doggett supported the bill in remarks on the floor and an opinion piece in the HuffingtonPost. The American Human Association provides the clearest summary of the bill's provisions.