HJ0016 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0016 LRB103 25462 MST 51811 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Family First Prevention Services Act was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget act on February 9, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Young people involved in the child welfare system do best in families, in a safe and stable environment that supports their long-term well-being, according to research; the passage of Family First took a large step toward this vision by restructuring how the federal government spends money on child welfare to ensure that more children in foster care are placed with families; the law also provides more support for critical services, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment, in-home training, and family therapy that can help prevent the need for foster care in the first place; and

WHEREAS, The law provides an opportunity for positive change and supports ongoing efforts to transform our child welfare system by keeping children and teens safely with their own family and to avoid the often-traumatizing experience of unnecessary placement into the foster care system; its name reflects the elements of the legislation, a family first for children and teens with prevention services to keep kids safe and able to reach maturity in their family; prevention services, including in-home, skills-based training for parents, mental health care, including family therapy, and substance abuse and treatment programs are important parts of Family First; when the courts determine that children need to enter foster care, Family First specifically calls for them to be placed in the least restrictive, most family-like setting to meet their individual needs; the law recognizes that treatment programs can provide short-term, customized therapeutic support while kids are living in families; this could be with birth parents, other relatives, close friends, or foster caregivers; residential treatment may be needed for short-term stabilization, usually less than 90 days, with follow-up services when children return to their family; federally-reimbursed services are meant to support and strengthen families, so children don't enter care; they are also meant to maintain child and family connections when children enter foster care or require short-term residential treatment, and they provide six months of aftercare when a child has transitioned home from either setting; the focus is on helping children and families live and grow together safely and successfully; and

WHEREAS, This Act reforms the federal child welfare financing streams, Title IV-E and Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, to provide services to families who are at risk of entering the child welfare system; and

WHEREAS, This Act aims to prevent children from entering foster care by allowing federal reimbursement for mental health services, substance use treatment, and in-home parenting skill training; it also seeks to improve the well-being of children already in foster care by motivating states to reduce placement of children in congregate care; and

WHEREAS, With an approved Title IV-E plan, the State would have the option to use Title IV-E funds to prevent the placement of children and youth into the foster care system and to provide up to 12 months of mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and in-home parenting training to families at risk of entry into the child welfare system; additionally, the State could use Title IV-E reimbursement for up to 12 months for a child who has been placed with a parent in a licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse, regardless of whether the child meets the AFDC income-eligibility requirement for Title IV-E; and

WHEREAS, A competitive grant for recruitment and retention of high-quality foster families is provided and made available through 2022; parameters for states to expand funding eligibility for youth "aging out" of foster care are provided; and

WHEREAS, Decreasing the number of children newly enrolled in the foster care system by providing federally-reimbursable services to families at risk of entering the child welfare system will benefit the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the State to support the Family First Prevention Services Act to help decrease the number of children who are entered into foster care; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on the State to restore funding for family intake and add more funding for family reunification and restore college scholarships for all the wards of the State who express a desire to further their education and attend college; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.