Youth Perspective: Family First Act

The Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456 and S. 3065): Expanding opportunities and improving outcomes for youth and alumni of foster care August 2016 Many of the provisions in the Family First Prevention Services Act legislation were included as a direct result of youth alumni of foster care educating policymakers about their experiences in foster care. Incorporated throughout the legislation are ideas youth offered about what could have connected them more to their siblings, families and relatives while in foster care; how they could enjoy and learn from normal child and youth activities; how they could be more prepared for adulthood and less vulnerable to exploitation; and how to prevent their entry into foster care in the first place. This document highlights provisions in the legislation that are a direct response to concerns and priorities that youth advocates have raised to policymakers.

New opportunities for youth in transition to adulthood Youth alumni of foster care have educated policymakers about the need for flexibility to access their Education and Training Vouchers (ETVs) in non-consecutive years, as many need to take a break for various reasons. Youth have also advocated for being able to access their ETV when they are a little older, since many youth felt they were not ready for higher education immediately following high school. This legislation would allow youth to remain eligible for ETVs until age 26 and to use their ETV for non-consecutive years with five years of eligibility.

Youth alumni of foster care have educated policymakers about the need to be able to participate in normal activities like their peers in intact families do to prepare themselves for adulthood and reduce their vulnerability to negative outcomes once they are on their own. Youth have also highlighted the need for practical learning experiences in daily life activities to prepare for adulthood. The Family First Prevention Services Act would reauthorize for five years The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (currently set to expire on September 30, 2016) and shift language to emphasize transition to adulthood rather than independence. It would allow services and education support for youth who have experienced foster care at age 14 and older. It would also add achieving meaningful connections to caring adults and promoting positive youth development and experiential learning to the service array.

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Youth have shared with policymakers that they are having trouble enrolling in Medicaid to age 26 because they do not have the documentation needed to prove they were previously in foster care. The legislation would require that youth be given the documentation needed to prove they were in foster care.

Oversight to prevent inappropriate diagnosis in foster care Youth alumni of foster care have talked about their experiences being inappropriately diagnosed and then prescribed psychotropic medications while in foster care. In an effort to prevent inappropriate diagnosis, this legislation would require states to include information about the procedures and protocols the state has in place to ensure that children in foster care placements will not be inappropriately diagnosed with mental illness, other mental or behavioral disorders, medically fragile or developmental disabilities and, therefore, placed in non-family–like settings.

Promotion of permanency and family connections Youth alumni of foster care have educated policymakers about the need for support to identify, communicate with and maintain relationships with siblings, parents and relatives during their experiences in foster care. Youth have also educated policymakers about the need for permanent, meaningful connections with adults to prevent their vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation.

The legislation would require and put in place mechanisms to oversee that, to the extent appropriate and within the child’s best interest, families would be contacted and involved in the child’s treatment program, and family-based aftercare support would be provided for at least six months after a child’s discharge from a qualified residential treatment facility. Federal Title IV-E foster care funding would be allowed to cover a child in foster care to be placed with their parent(s) in residential family-based treatment. The legislation also would allow Title IV-E funding to provide prevention services, such as family therapy, for the child and family when a child is identified as being at imminent risk of entering foster care.

The legislation also would include Title IV-E funding for evidence-based kinship navigator services to help identify and support kinship caregivers for children and youth in care. A requirement and funding to help develop an electronic system to process and finalize adoptions and guardianships across state lines for children and youth in foster care is also included in the legislation.

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Promotion of trauma-informed care Youth alumni of foster care have talked about the trauma of entering foster care and the trauma of events that led to their entry into care. The legislation requires prevention services for children and families to be trauma-informed and for qualified residential treatment facilities to provide a trauma-informed treatment model.

Prevention services for children, parents and kinship caregivers Many youth alumni in foster care have said they could have avoided their placement in foster care if their parents could have received the help they needed. We know parental substance use and addiction is a leading reason why children enter foster care. At least 31 percent of the entries into foster care are due to parental substance abuse nationwide, and some states report higher rates. For the first time, states would have the option to use federal Title IV-E foster care funding to cover 50 percent of the prevention and family services for children who are at imminent risk of entry into foster care and their biological, adoptive or kinship caregivers. Pregnant and parenting teens in foster care would also be eligible for prevention services. The services allowable would be for substance abuse treatment, mental health or in-home parenting support, such as family therapy. No income eligibility would be imposed on children and families for prevention services, so all children at imminent risk would be eligible.

Pregnant and parenting youth in foster care The legislation would expand the array of services for pregnant and parenting youth in foster care by allowing them to be categorically eligible for prevention services. The qualified residential treatment program changes would not affect placements that are specifically designed to serve pregnant and parenting youth in foster care.

The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016 (H.R. 5456) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 13, 2016. Identical legislation (S. 3065) was introduced in the U.S. Senate on June 16, 2016. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means held a markup on this legislation on June 15, 2016, and passed the bill out of committee by unanimous consent. On June 21, 2016, the bill was passed unanimously by voice vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is now pending consideration by the U.S. Senate.

Casey Family Programs has developed summary documents of the entire legislation.1 1

Casey Family Programs has developed a two-page, high-level overview of the legislation, Overview of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016, and a detailed description, Summary of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016.

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