Social Services Block Grant

Objectives: The objective is to enable each state and territory to furnish social services best suited to the needs of the individuals residing in the state or territory. Federal funds may be used by recipients to provide services directed toward one of the following five goals specified in the law: (1) To prevent, reduce, or eliminate dependency; (2) To achieve or maintain self-sufficiency; (3) To prevent neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults; (4) To prevent or reduce inappropriate institutional care; and (5) To secure admission or referral for institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate. Additionally, the Omnibus Territories Act, or Title V. of Public Law 95-134, authorizes a consolidation of awards for the insular areas (also called 'territories') of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and American Samoa. Each of these territories may submit a single application for up to 22 health and human services programs specified in regulation at 45 CFR Part 97. Territories, under what is termed the Consolidated Block Grant or CBG, are entitled to receive a single sum under the authority at Title XX or the SSBG that can be expended on any purpose allowable under the programs in the consolidated grant. Under SSBG, the funds may be expended for purposes as authorized for this authority. Further, territories may determine the proportion of the consolidated awards to be spent on various discrete services or activities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may waive matching and application or reporting requirements from the different awards consolidated for territories. Programs eligible to be consolidated include (but are not limited to) the following: protection services such as Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (SSA), Parts 1 and 2, Child Welfare, Family Preservation Services; Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA); Education and Training; Women and Infants nutrition assistance (WIC); Food Stamps; Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG); Maternal and Child Health Block Grant; State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); Medicaid; Foster Care; Adoption Assistance; Child Support, Older Americans programs, under Older Americans Act; the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Programs for the Disabled under the Developmental Disabilities or DD Act; Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF; and Social Services Block Grant or SSBG.