States brace for dramatic overhaul to federal foster care funding

Source: Time


BY MAYA LORA AND EMILY BIRNBAUM - 06/21/18 10:50 AM EDT

State and local governments are poised to undergo a major shift in the way they think about at-risk children, thanks to bipartisan federal legislation aimed at encouraging families to stay together and out of the foster care system.

The Family First Prevention Services Act, a provision within the Bipartisan Budget Act that President Trump signed into law in February, would give states incentives to keep children with parents or relatives, rather than immediately transferring them to foster care or the state’s care.

The bill is the latest step in a long-running debate over whether it is best to keep families together, as parents struggle through addiction or other problems, or to remove children from homes where they may be at risk. Some child welfare experts say the program could put more children at risk, and many say it marks a significant departure that will challenge state programs that are already strapped for cash.

The measure is “the most significant change in federal child-welfare funding in half a century,” said Neil Skene, a special assistant to the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. He said the transition to the new system “is going to be difficult for a lot of states.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/393084-states-brace-for-dramatic-overhaul-to-federal-foster-care-funding