State Child Welfare Policy Guide: Part of the Policy Matters Series

2.3 "Flex funds" to support families in crisis

“Flex funds” are relatively small amounts of funding available for workers to improve outcomes for individual children and families that are not subject to the usual, categorical restrictions.  These funds enable caseworkers to keep families safely together by meeting the unique needs of individual children and families   Flex funds can help strengthen or organize the family’s natural system of supports, avoid out-of-home placement, reunify families, connect children in foster care with kin, or otherwise achieve positive child and family outcomes.  Caseworkers are able to access flex funds for a variety of material needs, such as purchasing food or clothing; paying rent or utilities; buying furniture, baby supplies or cleaning materials; or repairing an automobile needed for transportation to a job.  Examples of services purchased with flex funds include therapeutic services, mentoring for children or parents, specialized parenting training, independent living services, tutoring, and socially reinforcing activities. [i]  

An evaluation of flex funds used by the Oregon State Office for Services to Children and Families found that they enabled children in out-of-home care due to poverty-related situations to return home sooner.  Flex funds also contributed to improved child well-being in cases that were especially difficult and involved serious circumstances.  Families rated services purchased with flex funds as more helpful than traditional services; community partners approved the public agency’s ability to respond immediately and creatively to the needs of children; and caseworkers were convinced that the ability to individualize services was crucial to improving child and family outcomes.  Caseworkers also reported that bureaucratic hurdles, delays, and inconsistent availability of funds could hinder the funds’ effectiveness. [ii]

Flex funds may be limited to a maximum amount per family, and approval by a supervisor or committee is usually required, especially if funds requested for a child or family exceed a specific amount.  The Oregon State Office for Services to Children and Families limits annual per child payments to the equivalent of the basic foster care payment for two months.  In Maryland, the Department of Human Resources annually budgets $10 million for flex funds that are allocated to local jurisdictions.

Policy Options:  States can authorize and fund the use of flex funds using one the following funding standards (listed in increasing order of effectiveness):

·         Flex funds available up to a fixed dollar amount per child or family.

·         Flex funds for each child and family available at a level equal to the placement costs that can be avoided.