CHAPTER 2. EXPENDITURES

This chapter focuses on Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) expenditures by State, by service, and in comparison with expended funds from other sources.

SSBG Expenditures Trends

During 2006, SSBG expenditures for all States, including the SSBG allocation (66%) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant transfer (34%), totaled $2.770 billion. Highlights of the SSBG expenditure State trends for 2006 are listed below.

• Expenditures of the SSBG allocation in 2006 were $1.826 billion.
• Since 2002, expenditures of the SSBG allocation increased by almost 4 percent.
• During 2006, 43 States spent $944 million in funds transferred from TANF, which was a 1 percent decrease from 2002 ($955 million for 48 States).^[14] (See figures 2–1 and 2–2.)

SSBG Expenditures By State

The Federal Government allocates SSBG funds annually to States based on population.^[15] As would be expected, States with large populations report larger SSBG expenditures. In addition, the amount of a State’s SSBG expenditures is greatly influenced by the amount of TANF funds that the State transfers into the SSBG.

California reported $397 million in SSBG expenditures ($191 million of which were TANF transfer funds), followed by New York ($288 million in expenditures, $120 million of which were TANF transfer funds), and Texas ($170 million, $33 million of which were TANF transfer funds). Five other States reported SSBG expenditures of more than $100 million—Florida ($161 million, $63 million of which were TANF transfer funds), Michigan ($127 million, $68 million of which were TANF transfer funds), Pennsylvania ($116 million, none of which were TANF transfer funds), Ohio ($113 million, $47 million of which were TANF transfer funds), and Illinois ($105 million, $32 million of which were TANF transfer funds). These eight States accounted for 54 percent of all SSBG expenditures. In 10 States, SSBG expenditures were less than $10 million. (See figure 2–3.)

Per Capita Expenditures

Nationally, the average SSBG allocation for 2006 represented approximately $5.59 per person.^[16] However, State SSBG per capita expenditures varied from this amount if a State reported a TANF transfer, carried over funds from previous years, or carried forward funds for use during the next year.^[17] During 2006, the average of State per capita SSBG expenditures was $8.84, ranging from $4.90 (Puerto Rico) to $15.25 (Hawaii). (See figure 2–4.)

SSBG Expenditures By Service

The five service categories that had the highest SSBG expenditures were child foster care services, special services for individuals with disabilities, child protective services, child day care, and adult protective services. Thirty-eight States collectively spent $413 million for child foster care services (15% of all SSBG expenditures); 26 States reported $388 million of SSBG expenditures for special services for individuals with disabilities (14%); 42 States reported $312 million of SSBG expenditures for child protective services (11%); 41 States reported $220 million of SSBG expenditures for child day care (8%); and 37 States reported $204 million of SSBG expenditures for adult protective services (7%). (See figures 2–5 and 2–6.)

Table 2–1 shows the total SSBG expenditures—comprising the SSBG allocation and the TANF transfer—for each of the 29 service categories, as well as for administrative costs.

Tanf Transfer Expenditures

States reported by service categories how they used the TANF transfer funds. Forty-three States spent $944 million of TANF transfer funds. Among these States, the highest proportion of TANF transfer expenditures was for children’s services. Twenty-five States collectively spent $260 million of TANF transfer funds for child foster care services (28% of all TANF transfer expenditures) and 23 States spent $179 million of TANF transfer funds for child protective services (19%). In addition, 18 States reported spending $91 million for prevention and intervention services (10% of all TANF transfer expenditures). (See figure 2–7.)

For three services, the TANF transfer portion of SSBG expenditures was greater than the SSBG allocation portion. Funds from the TANF transfer accounted for 68 percent of SSBG expenditures for prevention and intervention services, 63 percent for child foster care, and 57 percent for child protective services.

SSBG and Other Sources of Funds

States reported on total expenditures, which included expenditures of funds from other sources in addition to the SSBG allocation and TANF transfer. Regulations also require States to report all other Federal, State, and local funds for each service funded by SSBG. State SSBG contacts were consulted about the extent to which they were able to provide these data. With some variation, States met this requirement in one of the two ways listed below.

1. A State reported on all Federal, State, and local funds spent in conjunction with SSBG expenditures for specific programs or providers. For example, a State that supported a child care center with the SSBG reported other sources of funds supporting the center as well. This State did not report the other sources of funds for all child care centers located throughout the State.
2. A State reported on all Federal, State, and local funds for the service category for the entire State. For example, if SSBG supported any child day care services, the State included all funding for child day care throughout the State on the SSBG postexpenditure report.

These varied methods for reporting total expenditures result in different interpretations of the SSBG’s support of a service, relative to other sources. Therefore, the following analysis is based only on data from the 45 States that indicated that total expenditures included all other sources of funds used for the service category.^[18]

The proportion of total expenditures of SSBG funds provided for specific service categories ranged from 2 percent to 47 percent. SSBG expenditures accounted for 47 percent of the total expenditures for adult foster care services, 43 percent of total expenditures for adult protective services, and 36 percent of total expenditures for education and training services. At least 20 percent of funding for seven other services was through SSBG expenditures. These services were family planning services, pregnancy and parenting, home-delivered meals, home-based services, adult day care, housing services, and information and referral services. The amount of SSBG funds that the States used to support the remaining 19 services was less than 20 percent. (See figure 2–8.)

Continue to Chapter 3