Child Welfare: Better Data & Guidance Could Help States Reinvest Adoption Savings & Improve Federal Oversight

By U.S. Government Accountability Office
Fast Facts

Legislation enacted in 2008 increased federal reimbursement of state assistance payments to adoptive families, saving states more than $800 million from FY 2015-19. But, states must reinvest all of these "adoption savings" back into child welfare services.

We found that states' rates of reinvestment varied widely. Some states spent little or none of their savings—in part due to issues like difficulty understanding what services they were allowed to fund.

We recommended that the Department of Health and . . .