Chapin Hall brought together child welfare experts for a conference in Washington, D.C. in February of 1999. This paper summarizes that meeting, which examined how state and local child welfare reforms interact with the existing federal child welfare policy. The paper consists of summaries of presentations on the perimeter of federal activity in child welfare financing and on a study conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office on state and local service delivery, as well as a panel of federal and state officials. An overview of federal child welfare policy is presented, including details on how the system started and how the system currently works. The primary focus of the conference is how money is allocated by the federal government and used by states.