Grant Details

The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible funding source that allows States and Territories to tailor social service programming to their population's needs. Through the SSBG States provide essential social services that help achieve a myriad of goals to reduce dependency and promote self-sufficiency; protect children and adults from neglect, abuse and exploitation; and help individuals who are unable to take care of themselves to stay in their homes or to find the best institutional arrangements.

Services and eligibility requirements vary by state. The Uniform Definitions of Services, which include 29 service categories, provide guidelines to states for reporting purposes. Service categories most frequently supported by SSBG include child care, child welfare, services for persons with disabilities, case management services, and protective services for adults.

Federal Law establishes five broad goals for the SSBG. Social services funded by States/Territories must be linked to one or more of these statutory goals:

• Achieve or maintain economic self-support to prevent, reduce, or eliminate dependency;
• Achieve or maintain self-sufficiency, including reduction or prevention of dependency;
• Prevent or remedy neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults unable to protect their own interests or preserve, rehabilitate, or reunite families;
• Prevent or reduce inappropriate institutional care by providing for community-based care, home-based care, or other forms of less intensive care; and
• Secure referral or admission for institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate, or providing services to individuals in institutions.