States must submit their report and application each year to the Children’s Bureau. If you have questions regarding this process, please contact Julie Fliss; her contact information is below. Applications are due by June 7, 2024, and can be submitted electronically to cbcap@acf.hhs.gov and with a cc to your state’s Regional Office Program Manager. 

Julie Fliss
Child Welfare Program Specialist
Office on Child Abuse and Neglect
Children’s Bureau
Phone: 202-205-8879
Email: julie.fliss@acf.hhs.gov

A copy should also be sent to the designated Regional Officer which can be found on our contacts page or on the state profile page in the FRIENDS Report and Application Portal, and it can be submitted electronically to the Regional Office.

For more information, please refer to page 29 of the PI. 

As of December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriates Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) made $70.7 million for the CBCAP program in FY2023. At the time of the release of the FY2024 Program Instruction,  the government was working under a continuing resolution, and FY2024 appropriations have not yet been finalized. Information on FY2024 appropriations will be provided to CBCAP State Lead Agencies once finalized.

Of that allotment, 1% must be set aside for purposes spelled out in legislation. These are to 1) fund Indian tribes and tribal organizations and migrant programs, 2) continue funding for the National Center for CBCAP, and 3) continue funding for program support.

The remainder of the funds are distributed to states and territories under a formula grant. This process allows that:

• Seventy percent (70%) of the funds will be allotted proportionately among the states based on the number of children under age 18 residing in each state, except that no state shall receive less than $175,000.
• Thirty percent (30%) of the funds will be allotted proportionately among the states based on the amount of private, state, or other non-Federal funds leveraged and directed through the currently designated state lead agency in the preceding fiscal year (i.e., FY 2023, 10/1/22 to 9/30/23).  If the aggregate of the amounts of leveraged funds claimed by the states exceeds 30% of the amount appropriated, that part of the grant award will be reduced for each state on a pro-rata basis.

The funding allotments are estimations each year based on the variables present in determining funding amounts. Each state must provide a cash match of 20% in non-Federal funding of the total allotment. The match funds may come from state or private funding.

The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010; Title II of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (42 U.S.C. 5116 et seq.), as amended by P.L. 111-320, enacted on December 20, 2010, includes new purposes for CBCAP leads such as:

• developing a continuum of prevention services for unaccompanied homeless youth;
• involving parents in the planning, implementation, planning, and improvement of community-based child abuse prevention programs that build on the strengths of families;
• and the inclusion of substance abuse treatment services and domestic violence services as types of prevention services that can be funded under CBCAP.

In addition, the Act amends and adds to the allowable uses of grants, under the local program requirements, the development of a comprehensive strategy to provide services to parents who are adult former victims of domestic violence or child abuse or neglect; providing for core child abuse and neglect prevention services to now include respite care services; and adds to optional services the inclusion of domestic violence service programs for children and their non-abusing caregivers.

CBCAP leads are not required to describe the results of a Peer review process; however, state leads could us the peer review process to help fulfill the requirement to describe the results of an evaluation, or the outcomes of monitoring, conducted under the State program to demonstrate the effectiveness of activities conducted under this title in meeting the purposes or program.

• The funding availability amounts and tentative allocation amounts are included in Attachment 2.
• Background information was updated to reflect the Federal administration’s priorities in increasing utilization of prevention services, and a focus on well-being for families.  

You may claim the money that is used for match in one year as part of your leveraged claim for the next year as long as the money is not leveraged to claim for any other source of federal funds, the funds were directed through the lead agency, and the lead agency has not changed between fiscal years.

CBCAP funds can be used to evaluate your funded programs and their effectiveness. Based on the current emphasis in the field for evidence-based and evidence-informed practice, it is wise to use a portion of funds to evaluate the attainment of positive outcomes for families and communities. For the Children’s Bureau discretionary (competitive) grants program, it is recommended that projects spend approximately 10-15% of their budget for evaluation purposes.

States will now have three years to obligate AND liquidate the grant funds. For more information on this, please see page 29 in the PI. 

State lead agencies are required to submit a report annually for activity from the previous year. Reports are due each year on January 30 for the fiscal year that ended the preceding fiscal year. 

Currently, CBCAP includes one long-term outcome measure to decrease the rate of first-time victims of child maltreatment. This rate is calculated using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Also, the Children’s Bureau is tracking data on a second outcome measure that examines the decrease in first-time perpetrators of child abuse, which will also be based on NCANDS data. This second measure is being tracked at the program level only.

Another goal of CBCAP is to increase the percentage of CBCAP total funding that supports evidence-based and evidence-informed child abuse prevention programs and practices. CBCAP State leads are required to include this information in their annual report.

We are defining evidence-based and evidence-informed programs and practices along a continuum which includes the following categories:

1. Emerging and Evidence-Informed Programs and Practices – This reflects programs or practices that have a strong theoretical foundation and are considered generally accepted methods for preventing abuse or neglect. Programs and practices may have been evaluated using less rigorous evaluation designs (e.g., pre-post test, no comparison groups), or an evaluation may be in process with results not yet available.
2. Promising Programs and Practices – This reflects programs or activities in which there has been at least one study using some type of control or comparison group and was found to effective in promoting positive outcomes to prevent abuse or neglect.
3. Supported – Efficacious – This reflects programs or practices with at least two rigorous randomized control trials (or other comparable methodology) that found it to be effective. The program or practice has not been replicated in multiple sites.
4. Well-Supported – Effective – This reflects programs or practices with at least two rigorous randomized control trials (or other comparable methodology) that found it to be effective. The program or practice has been replicated in multiple sites.

For more information about NCANDS and the Child Maltreatment Reports, visit the Children’s Bureau website.