Been doing a deep dive into the Family First Prevention
Services Act bill.
Loads and loads of information in here. Some of the bill is well-intended, but the big, national impact is really limiting campus-based and congregate care in lieu of family foster. Basically, the bill believes that kids in foster care do better in families (Annie E. Casey….huge non-profit tied to Save the Children pushes this). It is just simply not true that all kids in foster care do better in families than on a campus or residential setting. Anecdotally, easily 80% of foster families are involved with physical or emotional abuse (or death). This simply does not happen in residential placements because the oversight is so stringent.
There is nearly zero oversight on the family foster care sector. This bill increases regulations and expectations (and limits the kids coming into) residential placements through foster care.
The bill was originally proposed in 2015 and couldn't get passed.
They then tried to sneak it into the CURES Act, which was all about the opioid epidemic. That didn't work either….
Then they finally snuck it into a continuing resolution and it went through. There is plenty of information easily accessible regarding this bill.
What makes it spoopy:
-Failed twice….why?
-Had to be snuck in, why?
-Why is it focused on destroying residential foster care placements?
-Why does Annie E. Casey really, really want kids to be with foster families who have nearly no oversight?
-Why does this increase requirements for residential foster and NOT family foster?
This bill is creepy and made even more so because it is RIGHT now being implemented nation-wide, this is HUGE!!!!
Here is the bill that Trump signed in February.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1892/text
Original bill from 2015 is attached.
I have other related documents I have found that show the concerns and highlight where the entire new designation for any organization running campus-based/residential/congregate care for foster kids is now under the gun. Will share those files in a bit.