Current CBCAP Program Instruction

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 5, 2023, 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 28 of the PI. 

The FY 2022 appropriation of $70.7 million was passed on December 29, 2022 and included a roughly $5 million increase for CBCAP over the FY 2022 appropriation of ~$65 million. 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 20222, 10/1/21 to 9/30/22).  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. 

FY2022 Tentative Funding Allocations

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, ensuring equity in services, and a focus on well-being for families.  
• Information on the American Rescue Plan Act and the funds allocated for CBCAP in that measure.  

To view the PI from previous years, click here to go to the Children's Bureau website. To view the attachments only for 2023 download: click here.

According to the CBCAP Program Instructions, 70% of the funds are allotted based on the number of children under 18 in the State according to the most recent Census data. Thirty percent of the funds are allocated proportionally among the States based on the amount of private, State, non-Federal funds directed and leveraged through the currently designated State lead agency on the preceding Federal fiscal year. However, there is no specific formula that States can use to estimate the return on their leveraged fund claim each year because the amount of any given State leverages may vary each year significantly. The annual distribution is directly related to the sum of variable amounts from the States, making it impossible to provide any estimates on a “ceiling amount.” The amount a State receives is directly proportional to the amount of total leveraged fund claims submitted that year.

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. Please note that the prior year’s grants allowed States to liquidate in five years. For more information on this, please see page 26 in the PI. 
Please note that the ARPA funds have a different timeline for the one-time distribution of funds.  The obligate and liquidate timeframe for those funds was five years.  

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 web site.

The American Rescue Plan provided $250 million in supplemental funding for the CBCAP programs.  This was outlined in PI (ACYF-CB-PI-21-07) released on May 5, 2021.  (CBCAP State Allotments for ARPA) This additional funding provides an opportunity to make investments promoting the safety and well-being of children and families.  In planning for the expenditure of the supplemental awards, it is important for SLAs to consider how the funds can be used to help address the complex structural issues that often contribute to families becoming involved in the child welfare system.

• Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in Prevention and Child Welfare Programs
  On January 20, 2021, the President signed Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” This Executive Order established that the federal government is committed to advancing equity for all, including people of color, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+), and individuals who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. The Children’s Bureau (CB) is committed to advancing this goal in our work with states, territories, tribes and all other grantees.

• Intersection of Poverty and Child Welfare
  An important goal of the American Rescue Plan is to raise children out of poverty. During this time of unprecedented stress and hardship, children and families need our support more than ever. Converging economic, health, and climate crises have increased the risk for child abuse and neglect as we collectively face new and compounding challenges, such as physical health risks, child care and school closures, social isolation, and financial instability. Some racial and ethnic minority children and families, who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality, face even greater adversity as they are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Highlights from the PI of interest to CBCAP are:

Use of Funds
The FY 2021 American Rescue Plan supplemental appropriation may be used to enhance community-based and prevention-focused programs and activities designed to strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect in a manner consistent with any of the program purposes of CBCAP (see Attachment A for more information on use of CBCAP funds).

In addition to supplementing funding for CBCAP, the American Rescue Plan provided supplemental funding for other services to families, such as child care, Head Start, home visiting and others to address the stressors and challenges faced by families that have intensified during the current health crisis. CBCAP lead agencies are specifically authorized to foster the development of a continuum of comprehensive child and family support and preventive services, and thus are in a unique position to establish new partnerships and build upon existing collaborative efforts with other federal, state or locally-funded public and private organizations to coordinate state and community-based collaborations and public-private partnerships. CB also strongly encourages lead agencies to reach out to families and community-based agencies to plan for the use of these funds, so that they may be used to increase supports especially for black, brown, indigenous, and LGBTQ+ children and families, as well as communities who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty.

Project, Obligation and Liquidation Period
The FY 2021 supplemental CBCAP grant has a five-year project and expenditure period from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2025. The funding must be obligated by September 30, 2025 and liquidated by December 30, 2025.

Matching Requirements and Limitations
Section 2205(1) of American Rescue Plan waives the match requirement applicable to annual CBCAP formula grants. Therefore, no match is required for the supplemental CBCAP grants awarded under the authority of the American Rescue Plan.

Narrative Report on Planned and Actual Use of CAPTA funding:
As part of the state’s application for 2023 CBCAP funding due June 5, 2023, grantees must provide an update on the state’s planned use of the supplemental CBCAP funds provided through the American Rescue Plan

Grantees will also be required to provide an update on the use of the supplemental funding and accomplishments as part of their future annual program reports due approximately 120 days after the end of the FY grant period, on January 30 of each year. Therefore, the update on the use of funds from the American Rescue Plan should be included in the annual program report due January 30, 2023. Lastly, the information describing the planned or actual use of CBCAP supplemental funding should be clearly labeled as such in annual CBCAP applications and program reports.

Financial Management and Reporting:
The supplemental FY 2021 CBCAP grant award authorized by the American Rescue Plan must be tracked and accounted for separately from the grant from the regular appropriation.

Grantees are required to submit an electronic SF-425 for the CBCAP supplemental funding through the Payment Management System (PMS). For more information on gaining access to and using the PMS system, please contact the PMS Help Desk at 1- 877-614-5533 or for more information see https://pms.psc.gov.

Grantees must submit the SF-425 for expenditures under the American Rescue Plan CBCAP supplemental funding annually. Each report is due 90 days after the end of each federal fiscal year (i.e., by December 30, 2021, and then annually through December 30, 2025.) A negative grant award will recoup any unobligated and/or unliquidated funds reported on the final SF-425 which will be due on December 30, 2025.

For additional information please review p 23 in the current PI or view the webinar from May 2021 - American Rescue Plan Act: A Discussion on Supplemental CBCAP Funding and Office of Grants Management Updates.