My weekly column: Strong families make for strong communities
Strong families are the foundation of strong communities. As a husband and father of four, it is important to me that we advance policies that strengthen families and support children, especially those in need. That’s why – during my time in Congress – I have worked as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee to uplift our families and support our children.
Families that welcome foster children into their homes are special people. These kids are among the most vulnerable in our communities and deserve a safe, loving place to call home. While we work to strengthen our foster care system, we also need to commit to keeping children out of foster care and with their families.
Unfortunately, right now, programs that offer prevention services – like substance abuse treatment, mental health services, and parental coaching – lack the full funding that they need to provide these vital services because we haven’t pledged enough resources to studying and certifying the effectiveness of these prevention services, and that evidence is a prerequisite to receive funding. So, I came up with a solution to this problem, which recently passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee.
My bill – the Strengthening Evidence-Based Prevention Services Act – would help keep vulnerable children out of the foster care system by funding comprehensive evaluations of prevention services so that these programs can be certified and deployed in our communities. In other words, it would ensure that we can quickly and efficiently evaluate prevention services, verify their effectiveness, and connect families and children with tools to enhance their lives and wellbeing.
Prevention services are programs that aim to prevent children from entering foster care. In 2018, Congress passed the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), federal legislation that aids states in implementing evidence-based programs that help keep families intact and reduce the number of children entering foster care system. One major barrier to the law’s success, however, is the lack of available research funding to support the development of qualifying evidence-based services. Because of this “research gap”, many prevention services don’t receive the federal assistance that was intended in the FFPSA.
More specifically, this bill would authorize a grant program through the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services to fund evaluations of prevention services, enabling them to have the supporting evidence that could establish a rating of “promising,” “supported,” or “well-supported” and receive federal funding. In essence, this program is designed to bridge the “evidence gap” that is currently preventing foster care prevention services from receiving funding.
Additionally, earlier this year, legislation that I led to help states like Iowa connect more children in the foster care system with loving homes and families passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Right now, many vulnerable children in our foster care system lack a family that they can call their own due to a shortage of foster families and a nationwide inability to retain generous families willing to foster. That must change. This legislation would help states uphold and strengthen their diligent recruitment plans by improving their processes – with concrete facts and information – for identifying, recruiting, and retaining qualified foster homes. It also establishes family advisory boards to disseminate best practices, highlight financial and emotional obstacles facing foster families, and keep foster families – who are the beating heart of the foster system – at the center of systematic changes and improvements.
With the right tools and resources, I am confident that we can find a loving home for every child and keep more families together.