District Of Columbia, Government Of

The District Of Columbia, Government Of, doing business as Child And Family Services Agency, is a U.S. government entity operating as the District's public child welfare agency and the recipient of federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Administration for Community Living. CFSA does not compete for federal contracts; it operates as a local government pass-through entity receiving formula grants and block grants to fund direct child welfare and family services delivery across Washington, DC.

CFSA's federal funding footprint centers on Title IV-E child welfare programs and related family preservation and prevention services. The agency received $44.5 million under the Foster Care Title IV-E program (CFDA 93.658) in fiscal year 2026 to provide safe and stable out-of-home care, with the agency currently serving 669 children in foster care and 2,037 children through in-home services. Related formula grants total $15.2 million for Adoption Assistance (CFDA 93.659), $2.1 million for Guardianship Assistance (CFDA 93.090), and $7.3 million for the Title IV-E Prevention Program (CFDA 93.472), which funds time-limited prevention services including mental health, substance abuse, and in-home parent skill-based programs for children at risk of foster care entry. CFSA also administers $1.1 million under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (CFDA 93.674) to support youth aging out of foster care, $703 thousand under the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program (CFDA 93.645), and $653 thousand under the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program (CFDA 93.556) for family preservation and caseworker visitation services. Smaller awards support child abuse and neglect prevention ($227 thousand under CFDA 93.669), community-based child abuse prevention, kinship navigator programs, children's justice activities, and education and training vouchers.

Recent activity shows 282 total awards across the source period, with 16 awards in 2022, declining to a single award in 2026 (the recent demonstration-site cooperative agreement). The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families dominates the portfolio, accounting for the majority of awards and combined obligated dollars across 149 prior awards. The Administration for Community Living provided a $700 thousand Developmental Disabilities Basic Support and Advocacy Grants award (CFDA 93.630) in October 2025. Eight awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete cycles for formula grant renewals. All grants flow to CFSA as the primary recipient, which distributes federal funds to local government divisions, nonprofit organizations, and community providers delivering specialized services throughout the District. CFSA manages the Stronger Together Against Abuse and Neglect in DC (STAAND) comprehensive child welfare information system built by Microsoft and operates with a documented 29 percent vacancy rate in its Office of Hotline & Investigations, with a current maltreatment recurrence rate of 9.7 percent. In September 2026, the Administration for Children and Families awarded CFSA a $600 thousand cooperative agreement through September 2029 (CFDA 93.670, Child Abuse and Neglect Discretionary Activities) to serve as a national demonstration site for responsible design, implementation, testing, validation, and monitoring of predictive analytics in child welfare—deploying five predictive artificial intelligence capabilities spanning service needs predictions, placement stability scoring, and maltreatment recurrence predictions.