ACF - Administration for Children and Families

09/27/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/27/2022 11:32

HHS Announces New Diaper Distribution Pilot Program for Families in Need

September 27, 2022

Today, during Diaper Awareness Week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new pilot program to distribute diapers to low-income families and help reduce their economic burden. As part of this new program, HHS, throughthe Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will award $8 million in funding to Community Service Block Grant state associations and tribes to provide diapers and diapering supplies to familiesin need through the Diaper Distribution Demonstration and Research Pilot.

Seven grants will be awarded by ACF through its Office of Community Services' Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs. Grant recipients will work with community action agencies, social service agencies, and local diaper banks to leverage existing community resources to assist families experiencing critical diaper needs. The new program will act as another anti-poverty tool for community action agencies and their partners, providing additional assistance to already existing wraparound services for individuals and families with low incomes.

"Parents shouldn't have to worry that their babies will go without the most basic of needs. Diapers are a crucial resource for families with babies and young children," noted ACF Assistant Secretary January Contreras. "For a single parent working full time at federal minimum wage, keeping one child in diapers alone can cost eight percent of the parent's income. This program will alleviate some of the economic burden for parents and families at a time when they most need it."

Diaper need disproportionately impacts low-income families and contributes to a cycle of poverty by preventing infants and toddlers from going to child care and preventing parents from working. One in three families in the United States do not have enough diapers to meet the needs of their babies and toddlers. Diaper support has been found to reduce economic stress, increase workforce participation, increase family income, and improve both children and caretakers' health and wellbeing.

"The diaper distribution pilot is about more than just diapers - it is about lifting a real and tangible barrier to health and well-being for low-income families and connecting those families with other programs that address the conditions and causes of poverty," said ACF Office of Community Services Director Dr. Lanikque Howard.

For more information about the Diaper Distribution Demonstrationand Research Pilot or to learn about ACF and OCS' other anti-poverty strategies, visit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/help.

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Quotes

"Parents shouldn't have to worry that their babies will go without the most basic of needs. Diapers are a crucial resource for families with babies and young children."- January Contreras, Assistant Secretary, Administration of Children and Families
"For a single parent working full time at federal minimum wage, keeping one child in diapers alone can cost eight percent of the parent's income. This program will alleviate some of the economic burden for parents and families at a time when they most need it."- January Contreras, Assistant Secretary, Administration of Children and Families
"The diaper distribution pilot is about more than just diapers - it is about lifting a real and tangible barrier to health and well-being for low-income families and connecting those families with other programs that address the conditions and causes of poverty."- Dr. Lanikque Howard, Director, Office of Community Services

Contact

Administration for Children & Families
Office of Communications
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

Phone: (202) 401-9215
Fax: (202) 205-9688
Email:[email protected]