H.R. 5456

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following on H.R. 5456, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016: Voice for Adoption, Washington, DC, June 13, 2016.

Dear Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Levin:

Dear Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden:

Dear Chairman Buchanan and Ranking Member Doggett:

Today I offer Voice for Adoption's full support of the proposed Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456). It takes historic and long overdue steps to direct federal child welfare dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. I urge you to move toward a timely mark up in both the House and the Senate so these vulnerable children do not have to wait longer for these important reforms. Voice for Adoption (VFA) is a national advocacy organization with a mission to speak in a single voice with policy-makers, representing the interests of more than 100,000 foster children awaiting adoption and the families who adopt them.

The Family First Prevention Services Act would allow adoptive families to receive needed post-adoption services by allowing states to use Title IV-E funds to pay for up to 12 months of family services that can prevent children from reentering foster care, and help keep the children safely in their adoptive families.

While the Families First Prevention Services Act would delay final implementation of additional federal adoption assistance reimbursement for the adoptions of infants and toddlers, VFA is willing to support this delay as a way to extend needed services. VFA was pleased to see a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that will examine compliance with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-135) requirement that states reinvest the state funds freed up by providing additional federal reimbursement.

Beyond the important post-adoption support this Act will provide, the Family First Prevention Services Act takes important steps to ensure children who need care will be placed in the least-restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate to their needs.

VFA will offer our continued support in the implementation of the Families First Prevention Services Act to ensure that the voice of the adoption community is heard--specifically to assure that the Act does provide critical post-adoption services that assist in keeping children with their adoptive families and helps children to avoid reentering the foster care system and in crafting the GAO report.

VFA looks forward to working with all of you to make the proposed improvements for children in the Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456) a reality. Thank you for your continuing leadership on behalf of the most vulnerable children and their families. Sincerely yours, Schylar Baber, Executive Director. ____ Ways and Means Committee Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016

Strengthen families by providing evidence-based prevention services to keep children out of foster care and reduce inappropriate group home placements. Support for the Family First Prevention Services Act (National)

1. AAJ Research & Evaluation (Florida)

2. Adoption Exchange Association

3. Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, Inc and the Kinship Program

4. Advocates for Children and Youth (Maryland)

5. Advocates for Children of New Jersey

6. Alliance for Strong Families and Communities

7. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

8. American Bar Association (ABA)

9. American Psychological Association (APA)

10. American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)

11. Arizona's Children Association

12. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

13. Association of University Centers on Disability

14. Brazelton Touchpoints Project, Inc.

15. CASA Youth Advocates (Pennsylvania)

16. Catholic Charities USA

17. Center for Children's Justice (Pennsylvania)

18. Center for Native American Youth

19. Center for Public Priorities (Texas)

20. Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)

21. Child and Family Policy Center (Iowa)

22. Child and Family Services of New Hampshire

23. Child Care Aware of America

24. Child First, Inc.

25. Child Welfare League of America

26. Children & Families First (Delaware)

27. Children and Family Futures

28. Children Awaiting Parents (New York)

29. Children First for Oregon

30. Children's Action Alliance (Arizona)

31. Children's Advocacy Alliance (Nevada)

32. Children's Advocacy Institute

33. Children's Defense Fund--California

34. Children's Defense Fund--Minnesota

35. Children's Defense Fund--Mississippi

36. Children's Defense Fund--New York

37. Children's Defense Fund--Texas

38. Children's Defense Fund (CDF)

39. Children's Home + Aid (Illinois)

40. Children's Home Society of America

41. Children's Home Society of North Carolina

42. Children's Hospital Associations

43. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

44. Children's Leadership Council

45. Children's Rights

46. Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Inc.

47. Coalition of Human Needs

48. Conference of Chief Justices

49. Conference of State Court Administrators

50. Connecticut Voices for Children

51. Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

52. Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (North Dakota)

53. Every Child Matters

54. Family Policy Alliance

55. First Focus Campaign for Children (FFCC)

56. Florida's Children First, Inc.

57. Focus on the Family

58. Foster Adopt Connect

59. Foster Adopt Connect (Missouri and Kansas)

60. Foster Club

61. Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FETA)

62. Generations United

63. Governor Gary R. Herbert--State of Utah

64. Healthy Teen Network

65. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)

66. Human Rights Project for Girls (Rights4Girls)

67. Illinois Department of Children & Family Services

68. Juvenile Law Center (JLC)

69. Juvenile Law Center (Pennsylvania)

70. Kansas Appleseed

71. Kentucky Youth Advocates

72. Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)

73. Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota

74. Lutheran Social Services of Indiana

75. Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange

76. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

77. Michigan's Children

78. Nathan L. Hecht--Chief Justice--The Supreme Court of Texas

79. National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc.

80. National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds

81. National Association for Children of Alcoholics

82. National Association for Children's Behavioral Health (NACBH)

83. National Association of Black Social Workers

84. National Association of Counsel for Children

85. National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

86. National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators (NAPCWA)

87. National Association of Social Workers

88. National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)

89. National Center on Adoption and Pregnancy

90. National Center on Child Welfare and Housing

91. National Center on Shared Leadership

92. National Child Abuse Coalition

93. National Children's Alliance

94. National Family Preservation Network

95. National Foster Parent Association

96. National Foster Parent Association

97. National Indian Child Welfare Association

98. National Kinship Alliance for Children

99. Nebraska Appleseed

100. New Mexico Voices for Children

101. New York Coalition for Child Welfare Finance Reform

102. North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)

103. Parents Anonymous Inc.

104. Parents as Teachers

105. Partners for Our Children (Washington)

106. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children

107. Prevent Child Abuse America/Healthy Families America

108. Ray E. Helfer Society

109. Strengthening Families All Across America

110. The Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc.

111. The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

112. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

113. The Children's Partnership (California)

114. The Dalton Daley Group

115. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

116. The Donaldson Adoption Institute, Inc.

117. The Mockingbird Society

118. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

119. The National Crittenton Foundation (TNCF)

120. The Ounce of Prevention Fund (Illinois)

121. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

122. Think of Us

123. University of California Davis Guardian Professions Program

124. Voice for Adoption

125. VOICES (California)

126. Voices for Alabama's Children

127. Voices for Children in Nebraska

128. Voices for Ohio's Children

129. Voices for Vermont's Children

130. Voices for Virginia's Children

131. YMCA of San Diego County, Kinship Support Program

132. YMCA of the USA

133. Youth Law Center

134. Youth Law Center (California)

135. Youth Villages

136. Zero to Three Notable Remarks

``[The Families First Prevention Services Act] not only recognizes the unique needs of children and families in adversity, but also makes great strides to meet them in a way that pediatricians can stand behind: through evidence-based, prevention-focused approaches. The bill offers states much-needed federal funding to support mental health, substance abuse and in-home parenting skills programs for families of children at-risk of entering foster care.''-- American Academy of Pediatrics

``[The Family First Prevention Services Act] takes historic and long overdue steps to direct federal child welfare dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families . . . [It] takes important steps to ensure children who need foster care will be placed in the least-restrictive most family-like setting appropriate to their needs, and gives special attention to children whose emotional or other special needs require residential treatment.''--Children's Defense Fund

``We greatly appreciate the flexibility in federal funding for evidence-based prevention services and the strong focus in the [Families First Prevention Services Act] on child well-being''--Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

``We strongly support the Family First [Prevention Services] Act and believe it would greatly improve the ability of child welfare agencies to keep children in their own homes and shorten their time in the system if they do enter.''--Juvenile Law Center

The [Family First Prevention Services Act] aligns very closely with what we consider an essential focus on preventing the occurrence and recurrence of child abuse and neglect whenever possible. It also supports the practice of keeping or returning kids safely home, rather than in foster care, whenever possible.''--Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

``Federal support for prevention services will be a win-win for children and families throughout the country''--Citizens' Committee for Children

``The Act will expand the availability of such services and reflects the reality that many families, including adoptive families, need targeted, effective services to meet their children's needs and prevent foster care entry.''--North American Council on Adoptable Children

``We firmly believe that far too many children are placed in group care for no therapeutic reason, which research suggests can harm children.''--North American Council on Adoptable Children

``We feel that the [Family First Prevention Services Act] offers the important possibility of allowing funds to provide vital mental health, substance use and in-home services that could help children stay with their own families.''--Child Welfare League of America

``[The Family First Prevention Services Act] takes historic and long overdue steps to direct federal child welfare dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families.''--Voice for Adoption

``Supports offered through the Family First Prevention Services Act such as individual and family therapy, home visiting and kinship navigator programs can offer relatives the support they need to keep children out of foster care and help them thrive.''--Generations United

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