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Capacity Building

CENTER FOR STATES

Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

The Center for States helps child welfare agencies implement the FFPSA. Explore Center resources to learn more about key provisions of the FFPSA and find tips and strategies to support implementation.

The FFPSA was signed into law as part of Public Law (P.L.) 115–123 and has several provisions to enhance support services for families to help children remain at home, reduce the unnecessary use of congregate care, and build the capacity of communities to support children and families.

To assist agencies in responding to the FFPSA, the Center offers technical assistance, publications, digital resources, and peer networking. Center resources can help states develop and implement prevention plans aligned with strategic priorities, partner with youth, families, and communities to develop a prevention service array, enhance kinship programming, identify and evaluate evidence-based practices, increase family engagement, reduce the use of congregate care, and sustain change efforts.

Looking for resources to support your agency’s response to particular provisions within the FFPSA? Check out Advancing the Children’s Bureau’s Vision: Family First Prevention Services Act.

Looking for technical assistance to support your agency’s response to the FFPSA? Contact your state’s Liaison.

Spotlight

PDF

Use this discussion guide with the “Reflecting on Racial Equity and the Family First Prevention Services Act” video to facilitate team discussions about your agency’s current practice and opportunities to take action.

Web Content

Bring your team together to watch this brief video. Reflect individually, explore Capacity Building Center for States resources, and then use the discussion guide to facilitate a conversation.

Prevention Planning Into Action

Use this collection of resources to support your agency’s prevention planning efforts.

Congregate Care in the Age of Family First

Use these resources to better understand the congregate care provisions of the FFPSA and what they might mean for your agency.

Strategic Planning in Child Welfare

Explore considerations and tools to support coordinated strategic and long-term planning, monitoring, and review processes.

It's All Relative: Supporting Kin­­­ship Care Video Series

Combine videos and discussion guides to learn how and why kinship caregivers foster and adopt relative children and how to better support them.

Prevention Planning Roundtable

Watch these videos to hear stories, successes, and lessons learned in prevention planning.

Strengthening Families Through Prevention and Collaboration: Child Welfare Virtual Expo (CWVE) 2020

Explore collaborative approaches to advance prevention presented by people with lived and professional child welfare expertise. 

FFPSA Prevention Plan Leaders

FFPSA Prevention Plan Leaders supports collaboration and learning between state leads who are responsible for supporting prevention plan development and/or implementation in their jurisdictions to meet the requirements of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The purpose of FPPL is to bring prevention plan state office leaders and/or their state office teams together virtually to support the development and implementation of Title IV-E Prevention Program plans to support systems as they work to become more prevention-focused. Membership is open to state child welfare leaders and teams charged with implementing and/or developing their jurisdictions’ Title IV-E prevention program plan under the FFPSA.  This also includes regional/county team members that may be working with their state office team on implementation.

In-Home Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Managers

The In-Home Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among in-home services managers (or managers from program equivalents) and PSSF managers to achieve positive outcomes for children and families that receive in-home services or other PSSF grant funded services. 

In-home services managers oversee programs that provide services to children and families who have been reported to child protective services for possible child abuse or neglect and who are assessed as being able to benefit from services delivered in the home. While the focus of PSSF managers may more directly involve the oversight of the PSSF grant, In-Home and PSSF managers both oversee programs aimed at preventing unnecessary separation, improving the quality of care and services, and ensuring permanency for children. 

Membership is open to individuals who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

State Foster Care Managers

State Foster Care Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among members of the National Association of State Foster Care Managers (NASFCM) to achieve positive outcomes for children and youth in foster care. NASFCM exists to enable state foster care managers to pool their expertise for progressive improvement in the quality of care to children, youth, and families served by foster care. This group is open only to state-level foster care managers. The board and the Children’s Bureau determine membership.

State Chafee and Education and Training Voucher Coordinators

State Chafee and Education and Training Voucher Coordinators Peer Group promotes collaboration among Chafee Foster Care Independence Programs (CFCIPs) to achieve positive outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care. Members of this group include child welfare professionals engaged in CFCIPs, such as state child welfare independent living coordinators and staff involved in education training and voucher programs. This group is open only to members who meet the criteria, and membership must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.