# SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT

**Agency:** Health & Human Services  
**Account:** Mandatory Programs  
**Source document:** Administration for Children, Families, and Communities · p. 12  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/budget/hhs/social-services-block-grant  

> **Trust:** parsed from the agency Congressional Justification. Approximate, **not summable**, verify at the cited page.

## Funding ($M)

| Fiscal year | Basis | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FY2025 | enacted | 1,700.0 |
| FY2026 | enacted | 1,700.0 |
| FY2027 | request | 1,700.0 |

## Health & Human Services discretionary budget authority (OMB PBDB — authoritative)

FY2027 $91.60B, FY2026 $131.10B. This is the agency total, not a sum of the parsed lines.


## What this funds

The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible grant provided to 57 states and territories to use for 29 different service areas and activities. States set their eligibility criteria, within federal parameters, and, with a public comment period, design social services programming each fiscal year. The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-35) amended Title XX of the Social Security Act to establish SSBG as a block grant to states that is currently capped at $1.7 billion in the authorizing statute receive multiple funding sources under one authority, one application for funding, and following one program's rules. This authority, as amended, set funding amounts as received in 1981. This account is subject to sequestration in accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Social services funded by SSBG grants 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 ' 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. SSBG funds are distributed to the 50 states and Washington, D.C., based on each state's population relative to all other states. Distributions are made to Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands based on the same ratio allotted to them in 1981 as compared to the total 1981 appropriation. Territories other than Puerto Rico may consolidate up to 22 health and human services program grants for operation under SSBG in the Consolidated Block Grant. There are no matching requirements. Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 182 Before receiving grant awards under SSBG, each state or territory must report on the intended use of the payments, including the types of activities to be supported and whether children, adults, or seniors are to be served. At the end of the fiscal year, the state or territory reports on the actual services provided and In addition to their SSBG award, states may transfer up to 10 percent of their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to the SSBG. Funds transferred from TANF to SSBG are to be used only for programs or services to children or their families whose income is less than 200 percent of the 2024, serving 23 million individuals and their families. Of the total SSBG expenditures, $1.6 billion came from the grant recipients' regular SSBG allocation and $1.3 billion came from transferred funds from the TANF block grant. Of the recipients, 9.2 million were children and 13.8 million were adults. Funding for the programs - net of any authorized changes such as transfers or reprogramming - for five The FY 2027 current law level for SSBG is $1.7 billion in FY 2027. The request does not include the amount required by law to be sequestered in FY 2026, which is $96.9 million. Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 183 Result / Target for Recent Target Target FY 2026 Target administrative costs as a Result) 4% 21B Percentage of Target: 4% results Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 184


**Where it sits:** Civilian / Non-Defense › Health & Human Services › Administration for Children, Families, and Communities › Mandatory Programs › SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT


*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. government. Civilian line dollars are parsed from agency Congressional Justifications and are approximate.*