What Is the Family First Law?
Research indicates that children involved with child welfare services fare best when raised within stable families. The Family First Act, signed into law in February 2018 to achieve this vision of caregiving, sets out a path forward.
The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law has created this Legal Guide as an aid for agencies, attorneys, children’s advocates, parents’ representatives and judicial officers in implementing Family First Act priorities.
Child welfare system
The child welfare system is complex and multi-layered, comprising numerous agencies, organizations and individuals working collaboratively for children’s welfare. Primarily administered at the federal level but often delegated to state and county levels as well, creating additional complexity. Its main goals include safety, permanency and well-being – returning children home when possible or adoptive parental placement through relatives (kinship guardianship or supervised independent living are usually viable permanency options).
The Family First Prevention Services Act was passed in 2018 and holds great promise to transform child welfare systems by emphasizing family preservation and prevention over foster care placement. It reduces reliance on congregate care settings like group homes while creating stricter guidelines for residential treatment facilities, so those children requiring congregate care receive quality short-term services.
The ABA Center on Children and the Law is committed to supporting states as they implement Family First legislation, offering resources such as this Legal Guide and Tool for Legal Community Engagement to assist attorneys and others understand its legal implications. We also conduct training workshops about Family First legislation implementation and are available for any queries state and county officials may have on its implementation.
Prevention services
Research indicates that children thrive when living within stable families, yet many need assistance to strengthen them. To support this endeavor, the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) creates opportunities for states to receive federal reimbursements to deliver various prevention services, such as mental health treatment for substance abuse issues or parenting skill building programs.
Since decades, federal child welfare funding has predominantly supported foster care placements rather than addressing the root causes of family instability. Researchers, advocates, and policy makers have long attempted to change this by passing FFPSA; FFPSA marks their first significant legislative contribution towards this effort.
FFPSA reduces congregate care through more stringent requirements on facilities receiving federal reimbursement, and increases opportunities for kinship placement by supporting programs to help relatives become better caregivers. These provisions represent a substantial shift in how states manage child welfare systems; the ABA Center on Children and the Law has been supporting these efforts through publications and evaluation projects.
Reunification
Reunification refers to returning children back to their biological parents once it has been determined that doing so is safe and in their best interest. Reunification is usually the primary goal in all Child Protective Services cases since research shows children fare better when living within their family units rather than foster care settings. CPS will work closely with both biological and adoptive parents during reunification to enhance home environments, develop parenting skills and address issues like drug addiction or domestic violence, while family therapy may also be utilized to treat alienation and promote attachment.
The Family First Prevention Services Act restricts federal child welfare funding to preventive activities, such as mental health services, parenting skills courses and substance abuse treatment programs. Furthermore, this Act restricts which group care settings are eligible for federal support.
Advocates will need to closely follow how states implement the Family First Prevention Services Act and what impact its provisions have on reunification, in addition to keeping track of any reunifications that take place.
Transition
The Family First Prevention Services Act reforms federal child welfare funding to keep children safe in their families, with new funding allocated for trauma-informed, evidence-based preventive services like mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment, as well as kinship navigator programs.
Family First makes it easier for trusted adults with established relationships to a child or youth to act as temporary caregivers by facilitating foster family placements for those unable to remain with their own parents safely. These adults may include relatives, grandparents, teachers or even neighbors.
In December, a bipartisan coalition of senators and representatives led by Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Ron Wyden as well as Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairwoman/Ranking Member Danny Davis/ Jackie Walorski introduced the Family First Transition Act in order to assist states with implementing this transformative law. This bill provides states with one-time flexible funding necessary to make necessary systemic changes within their states.
