S.1376: Family First Transition and Support Act of 2019

The Family First Transition and Support Act (S.1376) would aims to strengthen the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (Family First). Specifically, the bill would:

1) Remove the eligibility link between Title IV-E foster care benefits and the 1996 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) law. Federal funding currently only supports foster care placements if the home of removal would have been eligible under the 1996 AFDC program, which only covers 40 percent of children in foster care;
2) Expand funding under Promoting Safe and Stable Families (Title IV-B part 2) by $200 million, and allow those funds to be used to assist kinship families;
3) Delay the requirement which mandates that 50 percent of service funds under Family First must be allocated to the highest “well-supported” programs to 2026;
4) Allow states the ability to draw-down $15 million in state-directed research funds;
5) Increase funding for Regional Partnership Grants by $40 million;
6) Increase funding for the Court Improvement Program by $30 million; and
7) Provide $75 million in additional funding for foster parent recruitment and increasing quality family residential care settings.

H.R. 2702 is the House companion bill.

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