Generations United’s Summary of the Intergenerational Provisions in the President’s Budget

On Monday, March 28, President Biden released his $5.8 trillion fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget proposal. While the proposal is simply a request to Congress, who ultimately determines the budget, it is seen as a snapshot of the president’s priorities and where their administration wants to direct their energy.

The president’s budget includes funding for many important programs and shows the administration's commitment to working on issues that impact all generations. Some highlights relevant to the priorities in Generations United’s Policy Agenda for the 117th Congress are:

1. Improved Support for Grandfamilies/Kinship Families

a. Increases support and incentives to place more children with kin and fewer children in group homes and institutions

i. Adjusts Title IV-E reimbursement rates to promote kinship foster care and guardianships by reimbursing states 10 percentage points above each state’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate.

ii. Title IV-E-eligible placements in unrelated family foster homes would continue to be reimbursed at each state’s FMAP rate.

iii. Reduces reimbursement rates for placements in Child Care Institutions and Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) to 5 percentage points below each state’s FMAP rate.

b. Expands and incentivizes Title IV-E Prevention Services and Kinship Navigator Programs

i. $30 million for FY23 for states to develop, enhance or evaluate kinship navigator programs

ii. Maintains the 100% federal reimbursement rate for Prevention Services through FY 2022, and 90% reimbursement for each year after through FY2026 (rather than 50% as under current law). After FY2026, the greater of 75% or the state’s FMAP rate plus 10 percentage points, rather than the FMAP rate as under current law.

iii. Increases funding for the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse and related evaluation and technical assistance to $10 million per year.

iv. Allows for increased tribal and cultural adaptations of approved prevention services programs.

c. Creates new supports and flexibilities in the Chafee Program

i. Allows states to serve youth up to age 27, and youth who exited foster care to adoption or guardianship after age 14 rather than age 16.

d. Strengthens the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program (Title IV-B, Part 2)

i. Adds kinship support services as an allowable spending category.

ii. Increases funding by $300 million per year, nearly doubling the program funding.

iii. Requires states to report on kinship diversions (“hidden foster care”), including number of children in those settings and the support offered to children and caregivers.

e. Expands the Adoption Tax Credit by making it fully refundable, allowing multiyear use of the credit and expanding it to include qualifying legal guardianships potentially benefiting kinship families.

2. Expanding access to quality affordable early child care and learning. The Budget provides $20.2 billion for HHS’s early care and education programs.

a. An increased $7.6 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to expand access to quality, affordable child care for families.

b. $12.2 billion for Head Start to help young children enter kindergarten ready to learn.

c. $450 million for the Preschool Development Grants program to help States identify and fill gaps in early education programs.

3. Strengthening Social Security Service Delivery, Equity, and Access

a. An increased $14.8 billion to improve services at the Social Security Administration’s field offices, State disability determination services, and teleservice centers for retirees, people with disabilities, and their families.

b. Funding to increase equity and access to these benefits

4. Expanding access to and affordability of healthcare

a. Guarantees Adequate and Stable Funding for the Indian Health Service (HIS) by including $9.1 billion in mandatory funding that would automatically grow to keep pace with healthcare costs.

b. Improves quality of mental healthcare by reforming coverage and major investments in the mental healthcare workforce.

5. $33.3 billion for the Administration for Children and Families including $257 million for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

6. $10.7 billion for the Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration including $1.6 billion for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant and $553 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics

7. $28.5 billion for the Department of Agriculture including $111.2 billion in mandatory funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and $6.7 billion for Food and Nutrition Service, largely for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC)

8. Investments in caregiver support in the budgets for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Including $1.8 billion for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, which includes stipend payments and support services to help empower family caregivers of eligible veterans.

The release of the president’s budget is the first step in the long process of determining the funding for Fiscal Year 2023. Generations United staff will continue monitoring the budget process and working to ensure the budget benefits all generations.