{ "id": "R44538", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44538", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 455331, "date": "2016-06-23", "retrieved": "2016-09-09T19:19:27.350704", "title": "Child Welfare: The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016", "summary": "The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016 (H.R. 5456 and S. 3065) would amend the child welfare programs authorized in the Social Security Act to allow states to receive open-ended federal support under Title IV-E for time-limited services and programs that are intended to prevent the need for children to enter foster care by allowing children to remain safely at home with parents, or with kin. This change would respond to long-standing concern by state administrators, child welfare advocates, and some policymakers that federal child welfare support is largely available only after a child is placed in foster care and that little resources are provided to strengthen and stabilize families to prevent children\u2019s removal to foster care. \nAt the same time, the bill would restrict the ability of states to claim support for children in foster care who are placed in group settings rather than in foster family homes. With limited exceptions, this change would restrict Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment support for children in foster care to those otherwise eligible children placed in foster family homes or those placed in a \u201cqualified residential treatment program\u201d that offers a \u201ctreatment model\u201d designed to address the clinical or other needs of children with emotional or behavioral disorders. In its 2015 report on use of \u201ccongregate care\u201d in child welfare, the federal Children\u2019s Bureau concluded that while there is an \u201cappropriate role for congregate care placements in the continuum of foster care settings\u201d a child\u2019s placement in such a setting \u201cshould be based on the specialized behavioral and mental health needs or clinical disabilities of children.\u201d \nAdditionally, the bill would extend funding authority for the child and family services programs authorized in Title IV-B of the Social Security Act and it would revise the purposes of, and eligibility for, the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) to make them more consistent with the goal of helping all youth who experience foster care at an older age make a successful transition to adulthood.\nH.R. 5456 was introduced on June 13, 2016, and was ordered reported by the House Ways and Means Committee (unanimous voice vote) on June 15, 2016 (with amendment). A companion to the bill was introduced in the Senate (S. 3065) on June 16, 2016. On June 21, 2016, the full House passed H.R. 5456 (by voice vote), as it had been reported by the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill has been widely praised by a diverse group of national, state, and local organizations and stakeholders, including child welfare advocacy groups and agencies representing public child welfare administrators; substance abuse treatment and prevention administrators and providers; pediatricians; social workers; biological parents, kin caregivers, and foster and adoptive parents; and courts and judges, among others.\nThe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill will decrease direct federal spending by $66 million across the next 10 fiscal years, FY2017-FY2026. Although certain changes in the bill are expected to increase direct spending, especially related to expanding uses of Title IV-E program funding for prevention services and programs, CBO estimates those costs would be more than fully offset by other changes that would reduce spending under that same program.\nPrograms authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act are administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44538", "sha1": "c06309b2fc3a72866e52e81a652f093d921a489b", "filename": "files/20160623_R44538_c06309b2fc3a72866e52e81a652f093d921a489b.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44538", "sha1": "a5f3ffb69ef4972f3f16171c958b7e71acf53443", "filename": "files/20160623_R44538_a5f3ffb69ef4972f3f16171c958b7e71acf53443.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 453550, "date": "2016-06-20", "retrieved": "2016-06-21T20:57:25.228819", "title": "Child Welfare: The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016", "summary": "The Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016 (H.R. 5456 and S. 3065) would amend the child welfare programs authorized in the Social Security Act to allow states to receive open-ended federal support under Title IV-E for time-limited services and programs that are intended to prevent the need for children to enter foster care by allowing children to remain safely at home with parents, or with kin. This change would respond to longstanding concern by state administrators, child welfare advocates, and some policymakers that federal child welfare support is largely available only after a child is placed in foster care and that little resources are provided to strengthen and stabilize families to prevent children\u2019s removal to foster care. \nAt the same time, the bill would restrict the ability of states to claim support for children in foster care who are placed in group settings rather than in foster family homes. With limited exceptions, this change would restrict Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment support for children in foster care to those otherwise eligible children placed in foster family homes or those placed in a \u201cqualified residential treatment program\u201d that offers a \u201ctreatment model\u201d designed to address the clinical or other needs of children with emotional or behavioral disorders. In its 2015 report on use of \u201ccongregate care\u201d in child welfare, the federal Children\u2019s Bureau concluded that while there is an \u201cappropriate role for congregate care placements in the continuum of foster care settings\u201d a child\u2019s placement in such a setting \u201cshould be based on the specialized behavioral and mental health needs or clinical disabilities of children.\u201d \nAdditionally, the bill would extend funding authority for the child and family services programs authorized in Title IV-B of the Social Security Act and it would revise the purposes of, and eligibility for, the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) to make them more consistent with the goal of helping all youth who experience foster care at an older age make a successful transition to adulthood. H.R. 5456 was introduced on June 13, 2016, and was ordered reported by the House Ways and Means Committee (unanimous voice vote) on June 15, 2016 (with amendment). A companion to the bill was introduced in the Senate (S. 3065) on June 16, 2016.\nPrograms authorized in Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act are administered by the Children\u2019s Bureau, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44538", "sha1": "264a5c989042936e9f825ec109b200e43ea4650c", "filename": "files/20160620_R44538_264a5c989042936e9f825ec109b200e43ea4650c.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44538", "sha1": "3219bb4982770ac9d796cb6a5457db98bf994acc", "filename": "files/20160620_R44538_3219bb4982770ac9d796cb6a5457db98bf994acc.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Domestic Social Policy" ] }