Feenstra-Led Legislation to Keep Children Out of Foster Care and Families Together Passes U.S. House Ways and Means Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee passed legislation – the Strengthening Evidence-Based Prevention Services Act – authored by U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull), which 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.

“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,” said Rep. Feenstra. “That’s why I’m glad that my legislation to help keep children out of foster care and with their families passed the House Ways and Means Committee. This bill will ensure that we can quickly and efficiently evaluate foster care 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 other words, this program is designed to bridge the “evidence gap” that is currently preventing foster care prevention services from receiving funding. This funding is intended to be supplemental to existing funding for child welfare.

Full legislative text can be found HERE.

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