Young people involved with child welfare services benefit most when placed within family settings. Family First will utilize federal funds for prevention services like mental health and substance use disorder treatment as well as in-home parenting training to maximize positive results for young people involved in its system.
Schwartz and Hughes fear that, under current laws, preventive resources will only become available after allegations of child abuse or neglect have been proven, creating undue burden on extended family caregivers who serve as kinship caregivers.
What is the family first law?
The Family First Law, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on February 9, 2018, is a new policy in the United States. Under this act, states are expected to allocate child welfare funding towards prevention services for “candidates for foster care”, such as mental health treatment or substance abuse treatment, and parenting support services.
Law goes into effect on October 1 and agencies, attorneys, and judicial officers play key roles in integrating Family First Act priorities into state, territory, and tribal child welfare systems. This resource highlights provisions that directly impact legal practice while providing guidance for agency attorneys, children’s attorneys, parents’ attorneys, judicial decision-makers and more.
Schwartz notes the difficulty with referring to Family First Law policies as prevention efforts is that, in order for families to receive funds under this legislation, significant abuse or neglect must have already taken place and funds distributed under it. Therefore, Schwartz believes the more accurate term for what this law does should be “family preservation.”
What does it mean?
The Family First Prevention Services Act was passed by Congress in February 2018 with an aim of addressing the longstanding and growing crisis of foster care placement for children. As an important reform to federal child welfare law, this act is expected to revolutionize how systems operate while prioritizing family preservation and reunification efforts. Furthermore, funding for child welfare services will be reallocated toward preventive services like family support counseling, mental health support services such as home-based parenting skills training or substance abuse treatment instead.
The new law also seeks to limit group foster homes, often known as congregate care, while encouraging kinship placements for foster care children. Federal funds will now become available for families receiving preventive services before their children are removed from their homes – states who opt-in can access a pot of Title IV-E funds that reimburse families up to 12 months’ worth of evidence-based programs designed to keep children with their families; such as parenting classes, mental health counseling and substance abuse counseling services and individual/family therapy sessions.
But some critics of the Family First Act question its scope. For instance, in order to access new prevention funds under this legislation a child must be designated a foster care candidate – meaning abuse or neglect has already occurred – before receiving them. “This shifts away from what should be the primary focus of prevention funds – keeping children with their families,” according to Sean Hughes, an independent consultant and former Democratic congressional staffer.
Concerns remain regarding the new law’s ineffectiveness in addressing the growing number of teenagers living in foster care or at risk of entering foster care. Teen mothers in particular may be required to put aside personal goals such as college enrollment or job searching in order to provide care for siblings and younger children living in their foster homes, often leading to dropping out, failing job searches and eventual poverty for themselves and their offspring.
What is its purpose?
The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), passed early 2018 as part of child welfare system reform efforts, seeks to keep more resources within families and prevent removals, while restricting federal funding for group care placements in favor of family home placements. FFPSA seeks to stop children entering foster care altogether or at least reduce numbers that end up there by addressing root causes like parental substance use disorder that contribute to neglect or abuse – with its goal being the prevention of new cases entering foster care altogether.
Many states and counties have implemented programs designed to support parents more effectively. This effort includes training and coaching sessions as well as access to parenting skills classes and childcare support services. Some communities have even adopted laws giving more priority to family homes in case plans. Meanwhile, others have created special courts dedicated to aiding families during court processes.
Advocates have raised concerns that Family First restricts options available to foster care children. If kids require treatment that cannot be administered within their family home setting, such as mental health or behavioral treatment services that cannot be offered within it, they can be placed into nonfamily home placement known as Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP), which must meet stringent standards to provide high-quality, personalized, trauma-informed care.
Family First may cause additional strain for extended family members who care for children in foster care, particularly kin caregivers who are caring for nonfamily homes where the child will reside. As this could place financial strain on extended family relationships and cause potential strain.
Though many child welfare leaders share these reservations, many consider the law a positive move forward. Greeson believes it may lead to better outcomes for children by allowing them to remain in foster care until they’re ready for permanent families (instead of waiting the traditional 15 months).
As the Family First provisions take effect, ABA Center on Children and the Law staff will assist legal practitioners and judicial officers as they implement these changes in their communities. This article offers attorneys and judges a quick reference guide that highlights major elements of law. It can be seen as a supplement to our comprehensive Family First Act Legal Guide which contains complete details about implementing these new federal policies.
What is its impact?
The Family First Act has caused much debate since its passage. Critics argue its philosophy puts children at risk. Yet the law has drawn much-needed attention and resources into child welfare systems nationwide. Many states have taken steps to implement it by recruiting foster families; expanding preventive services; or funding kinship navigator programs.
As part of its implementation, the Family First Act caps federal payment limits for group homes (also referred to as congregate care). To assist states in this effort, ABA staff and legal community partners have created tools such as FFPSA Tool for Legal Community Engagement for attorneys and judicial officers that can help them understand how it affects their cases.
One of the hallmarks of the Family First Act is its mandate for states to offer various prevention services, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment; parenting training; home visitation services and clinical visits. To qualify for these funds, a family must be considered high risk and possess significant needs; advocates have voiced their reservations that this may not be sufficient in helping stop child abuse and neglect from occurring.
Another key change brought on by the Family First bill is its provision of Title IV-E funding for use with kinship placements – this marks a substantial shift from previous policy. Prior to now, Title IV-E funding was only accessible for non-family placements like residential treatment facilities and foster homes – making this change easier to use and enable states to use money to place children with relatives instead of foster care and thus reduce entry and lengths of stay for foster care placements.
The new law has also greatly enhanced services for adolescents and young adults aging out of foster care, in particular by expanding Chafee Foster Care Independence Program grants for educational and employment support for youth, as well as adding flexibility to ETV program.
