Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation, by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and selected states, of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act to determine the guidance which HHS has given to the states and how HHS has determined whether states have complied with the act's requirements.

During the initial year of implementation, much confusion existed among the states reviewed about how to implement the requirements and what constituted an acceptable inventory of children in care or a case review system. In addition, some states had not made all of the required improvements to receive the authorized incentive funds. This confusion resulted from inadequate HHS guidance on how the act was to be implemented. States had no formal guidance until 3 years after the act's passage, and the final regulations failed to give specific guidance and allowed the states maximum flexibility in interpreting the requirements. Furthermore, HHS permitted states to certify their own eligibility for incentive funds. HHS compliance reviews found four states ineligible for fiscal year 1981 incentive funds they had already received. Five other states withdrew their certifications in anticipation of being found ineligible. In addition, the criteria HHS uses to determine eligibility for incentive funds are less demanding than the law requires and do not ensure that all of the improvements and safeguards mandated by the act are adopted by all of the states. HHS could find a state in compliance even if none of its cases included all of the required elements to receive incentive funds. GAO believes that the HHS position that only 13 of 18 elements must be implemented is not consistent with the legislative intent.