On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the landmark bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act, as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The Children’s Defense Fund looks at what’s in the bill and what it means for families, children and young people.
In short: Family First includes long-overdue historic reforms to help keep children safely with their families and avoid the traumatic experience of entering foster care, emphasizes the importance of children growing up in families and helps ensure children are placed in the least restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate to their special needs when foster care is needed.
Family First also offers new supports for preventing and treating families struggling with substance use disorders, including increased support for grandparents and other relatives who have reached out to care for children, regional partnerships to bring systems together to benefit children, and funding to help children be placed in treatment programs with their parents.
Learn More on CDF’s Policy Page
- Two-page summary of the Family First Prevention Services Act
- Detailed summary of the Family First Prevention Services Act
- Implementation timeline
- The sections specific to the Family First Prevention Services Act in the larger Bipartisan Budget Act
- Broad support for the original version of the Family First Prevention Services Act passed by the House in June 2016
Full link: Family First Prevention Services Policy Overview (CDF)