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Front of the Capitol building

Feenstra Legislation to Support Strong Families Signed into Law

January 8, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) issued the following statement after legislation – the Strengthening Evidence-Based Prevention Services Act – that he authored to support strong families was signed into law as part of the Supporting America’s Children and Families Act on January 4th:

“I’m glad that legislation that I led to help keep children out of the foster care system and with their families was signed into law as part of a larger family wellbeing package at the beginning of this year. This reform will 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,” said Rep. Feenstra. “Programs that currently help families stay together lack the funding they need to survive, which not only hurts families in need, but also places an additional strain on our already overwhelmed foster care system. By carefully and efficiently evaluating prevention services and similar programs, we can connect families and children with tools and support to enhance their lives and overall 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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