Leveraging the FFPSA For Older Youth: Prevention Provisions

Signed on February 9, 2018, as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892), the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) has the potential to radically change child welfare systems across the country. Primarily by dictating how federal child welfare funds (Title IV-E) can be used, the FFPSA seeks to create a child welfare system that increases its investments in prevention services, so youth and families do not enter the system in the first place, and in family- and community-based services and placements, so youth who enter the system are more likely to find family and permanency. It is hoped that changing the way Title IV-E funds can be spent will lead to state systems that better reflect a vision of child welfare service delivery that prioritizes prevention, seeks to keep children with families in the community, and provides a more comprehensive service array for youth as they transition to adulthood.