Policy Corner: How the Family First Act Impacts LGBTQIA2S+ Youth in Foster Care (Congregate Care Edition)

What is the Family First Act (FFA)?

• A bi-partisan law that was supported by FosterClub's lived experience leaders
• Passed in 2018, FFA included historic reforms that focus on keeping children safely with their families, when possible
• FFA achieved the following¹
  • Funding prevention services
  • Providing support for kinship (relative) caregivers
  • Establishing requirements for placement in residential treatment programs (congregate care) and improving quality and oversight of services
  • Improving services to older youth

How does the FFA help decrease congregate care placements for LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care?

Queer youth in foster care are at an increased risk of being placed in congregate care². FFA includes the following about congregate care placements³:

• Promotes limited use of congregate care as a placement
• Promotes congregate care use primarily to support "complex clinical needs of children and youth"⁴ who have significant trauma exposure
• Congregate care must be the least restrictive treatment intervention possible
• Child's clinical needs must be met by the given facility's specific treatment model
• If the assessment says a child's needs can be met in a less restrictive place, they must be moved to a less restrictive placement

By implementing the Family First Act, states help ensure that LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care are not placed in congregate care due to a lack of affirming foster families being available. Rather, the Family First Act will ensure that if an LGBQIA2S+ youth in foster care is placed in congregate care, it is truly what is best for the youth. This will decrease the number of LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care who are unnecessarily placed in congregate care. 

What can you do?

• Caseworkers + advocates + professionals: Make sure to follow FFA guidelines when placing LGBTQIA2S+ youth in congregate care
• Kinship Caregivers + foster/resource families: Help educate LGBTQIA2S+ youth in your care on FFA guidelines for being placed in congregate care, so they can advocate for themselves if they are ever placed there
• Everyone: Contact your representative and senators and tell them how important these services are for LGBTQIA2S+ youth in care! Encourage them to put more funding towards supporting LGBTQIA2S+ youth in care and ensuring they receive the resources they need
  • You can use the resource here to find your representatives and senators
  • For tips on writing your representative(s) or senator(s), see the resource here

Want to learn more about the Family First Act and Congregate Care? Check out these resources!

Implementation

• Congregate Care in the Age of Family First
• Safely Reducing the Use of Congregate Care: Considerations in the Age of Family First (archived webinar)

What lived experience voices are saying

• Reducing Reliance on Congregate Care: Our Priorities
  • Related webinar
• A Historic Opportunity to Reform the Child Welfare System: Youth & Alumni Prioritites on Special Populations
• A Historic Opportunity to Reform the Child Welfare System: Youth & Alumni Priorities on Quality Residential Services
  • Related webinar
• Share Your Perspective: Keeping Youth in Families Not Facilities

Sources:

¹Family First Act: About the Law

²#FosterEqaulity: Why do we care? And why should you?

³Family First Act Bill Text

⁴Congregate Care in the Age of Family First