1. Family First Preservation and Services Act (FFPSA)
Jack F. Trope, Sr. Director, Indian Child Welfare Programs, Casey Family Programs
Suzanne M. Garcia, Tribal Law and Child Welfare Specialist, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Andrea Smith, Attorney, Port Gamble S’Klallam
NAICJA - October 2018

2. Today’s Presentation Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (generally)
Recent Policy Shifts
Family First Prevention Services Act
Eligibility
Placements
QRTPS
Kinship Navigator Programs
Model Foster Home Licensing Standards
Kinds of Services that will be reimbursed
Evidence Based Practices
Clearinghouse
Tribal Provisions in FFPSA
Center for Native Child and Family Resiliency
Timelines
Most Recent Guidance
NAICJA - October 2018

3. Why is ffpsa Important courts & the judiciary?
The Act:
Recognizes that keeping families together is best
Timelines shifting
Potential for more services
Potential to be creative – weaving services together
Judges as champions
Tribal/state court forums
Internally
NAICJA - October 2018

4. Titles IV-B and IV-E
Basic federal child welfare statutes provide core funding for state child welfare systems
Partially reimburses costs of staff time, maintenance payments, training, data systems, etc.
Reimbursement rate for direct payments for children is based on the Federal Medical Assistance Rate (FMAP), a calculation determined by per capita income rates which for most tribes has been calculated to be 83%; administration and data systems costs are reimbursed at 50%, most training at 75%
Establishes requirements for basic elements of child welfare systems
Case plans, case review systems, reasonable efforts requirements,
Focus traditionally on child health and safety and expedited permanent placements.
Criticism:
Services are triggered by the need for foster care, rather than the need for services to prevent removal
Not enough services to support reunification
Not enough time to support lasting reunification
NAICJA - October 2018

5. Trends in child welfare
Reasons for removal
Neglect – main reason
Substance abuse – numbers skyrocketing
Many children under age of one year
Research shows:
There are effective interventions to serve these populations
Treating mother and infant together supports wellness for both
Costs can be reduced and families kept together if Title IV- E can be used for prevention services
**Increasing recognition of prevention & active efforts as best practices**
NAICJA - October 2018

6. Family First Prevention Services Act
Option to be reimbursed for prevention/intervention services and programs
12 months limit
Begins FY 2020
Eligibility not linked to income levels
Eligible services include
Mental health
Substance abuse
In-home parent skill-based programs
50/50 match in FY 2020, increasing to FMAP by FY 2027 (which for most tribes is 83%)
Placements – new restrictions in effect 10/1/2019 (unless a request to delay approved)
Family Reunification Services –revised
Kinship Navigator Program
Competitive Grants (2)
Regional Partnership Grants (RPG)
Foster Care Recruitment Grants
NAICJA - October 2018

7. Prevention and Family Services - Eligibility -
A child who is a candidate for foster care who can remain safely at home or in kinship and is identified as being at imminent risk of foster care
Includes a child whose adoption or guardianship arrangement is a risk and includes post-reunification services
A child in foster care who is pregnant or parenting
Parents or kin caregivers where services are needed to prevent the candidate for foster care from entry into care
NAICJA - October 2018

8. Restrictions on placements
Children in foster care have the right to be placed in the “least restrictive setting” relative to their needs
Beginning October 1, 2019**, only reimbursed when placed in 1 of 6 settings:
Family foster homes (including relatives)
Placements for pregnant or parenting youth
Supervised independent living for youth 18+
Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP) for youth with treatment needs
Specialized placements for victims of sex trafficking
Family-based residential treatment facility for substance abuse
** can delay these restrictions, but then can’t take advantage of prevention program
NAICJA - October 2018

9. QRTPs - Qualified Residential Treatment Programs
Must have a trauma-informed treatment model and a registered or licensing nursing and other licensed clinical staff onsite
Facilitate outreach to the child’s family and include them in the child’s treatment plan
Provide discharge planning and family-based aftercare support for at least six months after the child’s discharge
Be licensed in accordance with state (or presumably tribal) standards for child-care institutions providing foster care and accredited
Conduct an assessment within 30 days of placement by a “qualified individual”; HHS will provide guidance definitions & assessment tool
Must assemble a family/permanency team including biological, kin, and appropriate professionals who are a resource to the family/child which must include members selected by the youth 14 or older
When QRTP is not appropriate, states have 30 days to transition the child/youth to another placement
NAICJA - October 2018

10. Model Licensing standards – foster family homes
Requirement-
DHHS must identify “reputable model licensing standards
By 4/1/2019 – IV-E agencies must provide HHS with specific information about
Whether their standards are consistent
If not, why not
Whether non-safety standards in relative homes are waived
If so, how caseworkers are trained to grant waivers
If a formalized process is
used to grant waivers to quickly
place children with relatives
DHHS proposed standards that
Apply both to relatives and
non-relatives, tribes and states
Model Licensing standards – foster family homes
NAICJA - October 2018

11. Family Reunification Title IV-B, Part 2 amended
15-month limitation for a child in foster care removed
15 months of services for children who return home from foster care
Changes timelines
12 month rule not necessarily a rule
Shift in philosophy
Could be helpful in ICWA cases as well
NAICJA - October 2018

12. Kinship Navigator Program
Assists grandparent and other relatives who provide care whent children cannot safely stay at home with their parents
Starting October 1, 2018, can be reimbursed
Programs must be evidence-based
One-time grants program funded:
If preferred program not evidence-based
Tribes accessing IV-E through tribal-state agreements can access these funds only if states pass through part of their allocation
NAICJA - October 2018

13. Evidence-based Practices
Requirements apply to prevention programs and services, services provided by QRTPs, kinship navigator programs;
Promising: At least one study that used some form of control group (e.g., wait list study, placebo group) to determine effect
Supported: At least one study that used a random control or quasi-experimental trial to determine effect
Well-Supported: At least two studies that used a random control or quasi-experimental trial to determine outcomes
NAICJA - October 2018

14. Clearinghouse of evidence-based practices
HHS issued a request for comments on the development of a Clearinghouse of Evidence- Based Practices (EBPs). The Clearinghouse’s role is to develop criteria for the approval of programs that will be covered by the Family First (FFPSA) legislation, as well as a list of approved programs.
Comments were due July 22, 2018;
Clearinghouse standards – coming soon
NAICJA - October 2018

15. Tribal Provisions in family first
Allow for tribes with a Title IV-E program to include prevention services as part of their plan
HHS is required to specify the requirements and performance measures for a tribal prevention services program
HHS must allow programs and services adapted to culture and context of tribal communities served
NAICJA - October 2018

16. Tribal Implementation issues – Family First Cultural Adaptations
Interpretation of the provision that services and programs adapted to the cultural and context of tribal community shall be permitted
Meaning of language
How will this be documented/evaluated
How broad is this provision
Application to direct-funded tribes, tribes with tribal-state agreements
Kinship Navigator Grants
Strategies for developing “approved” programs
Family Spirit program is an approved EBP program
Efforts taking place to qualify Positive Indian Parenting
The Federal Register request for comments indicates that the Clearinghouse’s charge includes develop criteria on “culturally-specific, or location- or population- based adaptations of practices”. Thus, it appears that the Clearinghouse will be involved in the implementation of the tribal portions of the legislation in addition to its broader role relating to the development of EBPs.
NAICJA - October 2018

17. Tribal Implementation issues – Family First Cultural Adaptations (con’t)
Culturally-Based Emerging Evidence Practices
Challenges in building evidence for culture-based practices include: 
small sample sizes,
difficulty in identifying appropriate comparison groups,
ethics of conducting studies in communities with high needs, and
methodology that is incompatible with cultural values, beliefs, mores, and traditions
Utilizing programs developed elsewhere v. culturally adapted programs
Different research methods to document effectiveness include the practice- based evidence model which emphasizes local community knowledge
Examples of alternative processes include:
the SAMSHA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
Oregon Tribal Best Practices programs
NAICJA - October 2018

18. Tribal Implementation issues – Family First Cultural Adaptations (con’t)
FFPSA provides that:
The Secretary shall allow programs adapted to the tribal culture and community
Tribal standards must mirror state standards only "to the extent practicable“,
The Secretary may waive the strict requirement for a well-supported practice if the Secretary finds the evidence of the effectiveness of the practice to be compelling and the state/tribe has a plan for continually monitoring fidelity to the practice model, outcomes, and how this information will be used to refine and improve services
Will these provisions be used to approve alternative criteria for documenting programs reflecting the needs of tribal cultures and communities that take into account all of the reasons why strictly complying with the EBP standard is not "practicable”
NAICJA - October 2018

19. Implementation issues – performance measures
Children’s Bureau must develop specific performance measures for tribes
Must be consistent with states to extent practicable
Must allow consideration of factors unique to the provision of services by tribes
Types of measures applicable to states include
percentage of candidates for foster care that do not enter foster care and
the cost per child of the services
NAICJA - October 2018

20. Impact on icwa – active efforts
More resources available to states
Adjustment to time limit for reunification services under Title IV-B, Part 2 – 15 month time limit now runs from date of reunification; no time limit applies to reunification efforts
NAICJA - October 2018

21. Opportunity for tribes not currently accessing title IV-E
Contracting with States to access Family First services only may be an easier entrée into Title IV-E
No eligibility determinations required
No time study or cost allocation methodology required
Focus on prevention services to keep families together
Title IV-E requires states to negotiate Title IV-E agreements with tribes that request to access all or part of the program
NAICJA - October 2018

22. FFSPA Timeline 2/9/18 – Enacted
4/12/18 – Information Memorandum (IM) ACYF- CB-IM published – basic information;
5/31/18 - Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI published – changes to IV-b and to Chafee programs;
6/22/18 – Federal Register notice requesting public comment on prevention services review and eligibility criteria and prospective services to be reviewed;
7/9/2018 – PI ACYF-CB-PI published (Amended Title IV-E Foster Care, Prevention, and Permanency Program plan requirements);
7/2018 – 8/2018 – Listening sessions
Tribal Consultation
8/1/2018 – Federal Register notice requesting public comment on model licensing standards published;
10/1/2018 – Update communication from Acting Commissioner Jerry Milner
FFSPA Timeline
NAICJA - October 2018

23. OCTOBER 1, 2018 CORRESPONDENCE MAIN TAKEAWAYS
CB is not issuing regulations at this time
Going to provide guidance through Program Instructions and Information Memoranda
Late fall: will release additional guidance on the prevention services components of the FFPSA, including
Review criteria and process that will be use to include programs and interventions in the clearinghouse.
Will address the public comments and questions received
National Association of American Indian Court Judges, October 2018

24. MAIN TAKEAWAYS (con’t)
Certification of Intent to request delay of congregate care requirements:
The certification due 11/9/2018 is non-binding and is being used to understand budget and TA decisions
Deadline to make final decision about delaying implementation of those requirements is 9/29/2019
Emphasized shift towards prevention
4 main takeaways
National Association of American Indian Court Judges, October 2018

25. For further information
Jack F. Trope
Senior Director – ICWP
Suzanne M. Garcia
Tribal Law Specialist - TLPI
Andrea Smith
CFS Attorney – PGST