Overview of the Family First Prevention Services Act

The Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act (FFP­SA) is a ground­break­ing piece of fam­i­ly-first leg­is­la­tion signed into law in Feb­ru­ary 2018 as part of the Bipar­ti­san Bud­get Act. Its pri­ma­ry goal is to shift the focus of the child wel­fare sys­tem from plac­ing chil­dren in fos­ter care to pre­vent­ing fam­i­ly sep­a­ra­tion when­ev­er pos­si­ble. By pro­vid­ing fed­er­al fund­ing for evi­dence-based ser­vices, such as men­tal health sup­port, sub­stance abuse treat­ment and in-home par­ent­ing pro­grams, the law aims to keep fam­i­lies intact and ensure that chil­dren grow up in safe, sta­ble environments.

A key aspect of the law is its empha­sis on reduc­ing reliance on con­gre­gate care set­tings, such as group homes, by pri­or­i­tiz­ing fam­i­ly place­ments. The law also estab­lish­es stricter guide­lines for the use of res­i­den­tial treat­ment pro­grams, ensur­ing that chil­dren who require such care receive qual­i­ty, short-term sup­port in accred­it­ed facil­i­ties. By redi­rect­ing resources toward pre­ven­tion and fam­i­ly preser­va­tion, FFP­SA rep­re­sents a sig­nif­i­cant shift in child wel­fare pol­i­cy, pro­mot­ing the well-being of chil­dren while reduc­ing unnec­es­sary fos­ter care placements. 

Back­ground of the Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act

The his­to­ry of the Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act dates back to long­stand­ing con­cerns about the child wel­fare system’s heavy reliance on fos­ter care place­ments, par­tic­u­lar­ly in insti­tu­tion­al set­tings. For decades, fed­er­al fund­ing pri­mar­i­ly sup­port­ed fos­ter care, rather than efforts to keep fam­i­lies togeth­er. Rec­og­niz­ing the need for reform, pol­i­cy­mak­ers and child wel­fare advo­cates worked to shift fund­ing toward pre­ven­tion ser­vices that could address the root caus­es of fam­i­ly insta­bil­i­ty. These efforts cul­mi­nat­ed in the pas­sage of FFP­SA in Feb­ru­ary 2018.

To imple­ment FFP­SA, states are required to sub­mit five-year pre­ven­tion plans detail­ing how they will use fed­er­al funds to sup­port at-risk fam­i­lies. They must invest in evi­dence-based pro­grams that focus on men­tal health, sub­stance abuse treat­ment and par­ent­ing sup­port. Addi­tion­al­ly, states must adhere to new reg­u­la­tions for con­gre­gate care place­ments, ensur­ing that chil­dren placed in res­i­den­tial facil­i­ties receive appro­pri­ate, short-term treat­ment. While the law was offi­cial­ly enact­ed in 2018, states were giv­en time to pre­pare for com­pli­ance, with full imple­men­ta­tion becom­ing manda­to­ry by Oct. 1, 2021. This shift in fund­ing and pol­i­cy rep­re­sents a major trans­for­ma­tion in the child wel­fare sys­tem, encour­ag­ing fam­i­ly preser­va­tion and pre­ven­tion over fos­ter care placement. 

What Is the Pur­pose of FFPSA?

The Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act address­es the under­ly­ing issues that put fam­i­lies at risk of sep­a­ra­tion to pre­vent chil­dren from enter­ing the fos­ter care sys­tem. Rather than focus­ing on out-of-home place­ments, FFP­SA redi­rects fed­er­al fund­ing toward pre­ven­ta­tive ser­vices that help fam­i­lies stay togeth­er in a safe, sta­ble envi­ron­ment. By invest­ing in ear­ly inter­ven­tion strate­gies, the law seeks to reduce the trau­ma asso­ci­at­ed with fam­i­ly sep­a­ra­tion and improve long-term out­comes for children.

To achieve this goal, FFP­SA pro­vides evi­dence-based sup­port ser­vices in three key areas: men­tal health treat­ment, sub­stance abuse pre­ven­tion and treat­ment and in-home par­ent­ing pro­grams. These ser­vices are designed to help par­ents address chal­lenges that might oth­er­wise lead to fos­ter care place­ment. Men­tal health resources offer coun­sel­ing and ther­a­py to both chil­dren and par­ents, while sub­stance abuse treat­ment pro­grams sup­port fam­i­lies strug­gling with addic­tion. Addi­tion­al­ly, in-home par­ent­ing pro­grams pro­vide edu­ca­tion and coach­ing on effec­tive par­ent­ing tech­niques, help­ing care­givers build stronger rela­tion­ships with their chil­dren. By mak­ing these ser­vices more acces­si­ble, FFP­SA helps fam­i­lies over­come dif­fi­cul­ties and remain intact, pri­or­i­tiz­ing fam­i­ly preser­va­tion over fos­ter care, when­ev­er possible.

Ben­e­fits of the Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act

• Pre­vents Fam­i­ly Sep­a­ra­tion: FFP­SA pro­vides fund­ing for ser­vices that help fam­i­lies address chal­lenges before chil­dren enter fos­ter care. By focus­ing on pre­ven­tion, the law helps keep fam­i­lies togeth­er when­ev­er it is safe to do so.
• Reduces Reliance on Insti­tu­tion­al Fos­ter Care: FFP­SA places strict lim­i­ta­tions on the use of con­gre­gate care and group homes for chil­dren. Instead, the law encour­ages place­ments in fam­i­ly-like set­tings or kin­ship care, which is shown to pro­vide bet­ter emo­tion­al and devel­op­men­tal out­comes for kids.
• Encour­ages Evi­dence-Based Pro­grams: States must use sci­en­tif­i­cal­ly backed inter­ven­tions to receive fed­er­al fund­ing under FFP­SA. This ensures that fam­i­lies have access to pro­grams proven to be effec­tive in sta­bi­liz­ing house­holds and pre­vent­ing fos­ter care placement.
• Allows States More Flex­i­bil­i­ty in Child Wel­fare Spend­ing: Before FFP­SA, fed­er­al child wel­fare fund­ing was large­ly restrict­ed to fos­ter care place­ment. Now, states can use funds proac­tive­ly to sup­port strug­gling fam­i­lies before removal becomes necessary.
• Ensures Qual­i­ty Stan­dards for Res­i­den­tial Treat­ment: When chil­dren must be placed in res­i­den­tial care, FFP­SA requires that facil­i­ties meet new, high­er stan­dards as Qual­i­fied Res­i­den­tial Treat­ment Pro­grams. This ensures that chil­dren receive the nec­es­sary ther­a­peu­tic sup­port in a struc­tured and time-lim­it­ed setting.

Chal­lenges of FFPSA

While FFP­SA brings sig­nif­i­cant improve­ments to the child wel­fare sys­tem, its imple­men­ta­tion comes with sev­er­al chal­lenges that states and agen­cies must address.

• Fund­ing Lim­i­ta­tions for Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices: Although FFP­SA shifts fund­ing toward pre­ven­tion, states must still invest upfront in expand­ing ser­vice capac­i­ty before they receive full fed­er­al sup­port. This cre­ates finan­cial strain, par­tic­u­lar­ly for states with already lim­it­ed child wel­fare budgets.
• Stricter Reg­u­la­tions for Con­gre­gate Care Facil­i­ties: The law places tighter restric­tions on group homes and insti­tu­tion­al care, requir­ing facil­i­ties to meet high­er stan­dards. While this improves care qual­i­ty, some facil­i­ties may strug­gle to meet the new require­ments, lead­ing to a reduc­tion in avail­able place­ment options for chil­dren who need spe­cial­ized care.
• State Readi­ness and Imple­men­ta­tion Hur­dles: States must devel­op and sub­mit detailed pre­ven­tion plans to qual­i­fy for fed­er­al fund­ing, which can be a com­plex and time-con­sum­ing process. Some states have faced delays in ful­ly adopt­ing the new frame­work due to pol­i­cy adjust­ments, fund­ing lim­i­ta­tions and infra­struc­ture challenges. 
• Chal­lenges in Mea­sur­ing Long-Term Suc­cess: While the goal is to reduce fos­ter care place­ments and improve fam­i­ly out­comes, track­ing the long-term impact of pre­ven­tion ser­vices can be dif­fi­cult. States must devel­op robust data col­lec­tion sys­tems to mea­sure suc­cess, which requires addi­tion­al resources and coordination.

The Last­ing Impact of the Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act

The Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act aims to address the root caus­es of fam­i­ly insta­bil­i­ty before a child enters fos­ter care — rep­re­sent­ing a major shift in child wel­fare pol­i­cy. Addi­tion­al­ly, FFP­SA impos­es stricter reg­u­la­tions on con­gre­gate care to ensure that chil­dren who do require res­i­den­tial place­ment receive high-qual­i­ty, time-lim­it­ed treat­ment. These changes have the poten­tial to reduce fam­i­ly sep­a­ra­tions, improve child wel­fare out­comes and cre­ate a more proac­tive and sup­port­ive sys­tem for at-risk families.

How­ev­er, chal­lenges remain in ful­ly real­iz­ing FFPSA’s impact, par­tic­u­lar­ly in state imple­men­ta­tion, fund­ing lim­i­ta­tions and ser­vice avail­abil­i­ty — espe­cial­ly in rur­al and under­served areas. States must con­tin­ue expand­ing evi­dence-based pre­ven­tion ser­vices while ensur­ing that child safe­ty remains a top pri­or­i­ty. As the law con­tin­ues to take shape, ongo­ing eval­u­a­tion and pol­i­cy adjust­ments will be cru­cial to refin­ing its effec­tive­ness. The future of FFP­SA depends on col­lab­o­ra­tion between fed­er­al, state and local agen­cies as well as sus­tained invest­ments in pre­ven­tion-focused pro­grams. If suc­cess­ful­ly imple­ment­ed, FFP­SA could serve as a mod­el for child wel­fare reform, demon­strat­ing that keep­ing fam­i­lies togeth­er — when safe and pos­si­ble — leads to bet­ter long-term out­comes for chil­dren and communities.