This section of the Supporting America’s Families Act allocates dedicated funding to fill research gaps about the effectiveness of programs to safely keep children and youth out of foster care.
Overview of the Section
In 2018, the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First or FFPSA) opened the door for states to receive federal Title IV-E reimbursement for evidence-based programs shown to safely prevent entry into foster care. Individuals eligible for prevention programs include “candidates” for foster care and their families, as well as pregnant or parenting foster youth. Eligible programs are rated as well-supported, supported, or promising in the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse and child welfare agencies are required to submit plans that detail which programs they intend to use and who qualifies for those services. Family First requires that 50% of covered prevention programs fall within the highest evidentiary standard, “well-supported.”
In order to access Title IV-E funds for prevention services, states must develop prevention plans that are approved by the federal Children’s Bureau. As of 2025, most states have approved prevention plans in place. Although Family First has helped fuel state efforts to prevent entries into foster care, research shows that many child welfare agencies face challenges tapping into the full potential of Family First. One of those challenges is the limited number of programs available in the Family First Clearinghouse that meet the evidence standards that are a condition of federal reimbursement.
“The bar that is set for programs to be reviewed and qualify as an evidence-based practice are particularly challenging to meet for smaller, marginalized populations, such as tribes, rural communities, and ethnic minorities. The challenge to generate research for culturally appropriate and adapted services for these communities that can conform to the IV-E Clearinghouse requirements is further compounded by the requirement that states use at least 50% of their prevention expenditures towards “well-supported” programs – the most rigorous standard to meet. The lack of evidence-based practices tailored to marginalized communities remains at odds with states efforts to tackle persistent disproportionality in child welfare.”
This section of the Supporting America’s Families Act sets aside $5 million for a new grant program designed to spur evaluations of prevention services, which in turn can lead to additional programs being included in the Prevention Services Clearinghouse. Specifically, these funds aim to bolster the number of programs rated as promising, supported, or well-supported in the Clearinghouse. These funds would be made available through a competitive grant process to evaluate prevention programs and kinship navigator programs (Title IV-B Blueprint: Section 10 – Kinship Navigator Programs provides more details on that section). The grants should prioritize creating timely evidence and evaluating programs that are missing or underrepresented in the Clearinghouse - and lived experts and others should be consulted to fully understand those gaps.
Applicants for the grant program include states or counties, child welfare agencies, Tribes or Tribal organizations, or research or academic institutions. Applicants must be implementing a prevention program or kinship navigator program and be working in partnership with the IV-E agencies and an evaluator.
This provision was adapted from the Strengthening Evidence-based Prevention Services Act of 2024 sponsored by Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Dan Kildee (D-MI)). Iowa and Michigan both have approved Family First prevention plans.
Investments in Expanding the Prevention Evidence-Base Can Open the Door to More Services and Supports for Families
We should spend taxpayer dollars wisely, making sure that prevention programs meet their goals of safely keeping children and youth out of foster care. With this investment, we will have a better understanding of whether prevention programs work and for what children and families. This provision also creates an opportunity to help assure the sustainability of these programs – with additional programs included in the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, more effective programs will be able to receive federal funds down the road.
Number of evidence-based programs in the Clearinghouse as of December 2025:
Reviewed over 200 programs (210)
46 programs received a "promising" designation
29 programs received a "supported" designation
20 programs received a "well-supported" designation
Under Family First, 50% of prevention program expenditures must come from well-supported programs. With only 20 well-supported programs available, states are limited in what programs they can choose. Funding designed to grow the evidence base can expand opportunities for states to provide more prevention services to more families.
Implementation Example
As of December 2025, there are 46 states, four tribes, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico that have approved prevention plans.
When states would like to update the constellation of services or change eligibility criteria, such as through a new definition of candidate for foster care, they can submit amendments to their approved plans to the federal Children’s Bureau. For example, Washington, DC updated their plan to add a new kind of service (Motivational Interviewing) in 2020. Illinois’ plan notes that they will file amendments once certain additional programs are included in the Clearinghouse.
States have flexibility in how they define candidacy, and can update those definitions with amendments. As reported by the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, some jurisdictions, like Oregon and Washington, include former foster youth in their definitions of candidates for foster care. Other states, including Kansas, Maryland and Utah, include youth involved in the juvenile justice system.
Implementation Tips from the Advocacy Hub
These core action steps can help build the blueprint for Title IV-B in states and communities. Read more about why we chose these steps in our intro to the Title IV-B Blueprint series.
Review your state’s existing IV-B plan.
Every state has a Child and Family Services Plan that outlines the goals and vision for the child welfare system, along with the specific policies and practices they plan to use to achieve those goals. Start with reviewing your state’s most current plan and report to learn about what services are available and identify the agencies and programs that are providing those services.
Get to know the current landscape of policies and practice.
Your state’s Family First Prevention Services Plan is a key document for understanding implementation of this section. Examine the current array of services in your state prevention plan and explore strengths and challenges in Family First implementation in your state.
Key questions to ask as you review these documents:
What gaps do you see that children and families need? Are any of those services available in the Clearinghouse?
Who in your state is eligible for IV-E Prevention Services? In other words, how does your state define “candidate for foster care”? Could that definition be expanded to include additional groups of children, youth, caregivers, or families?
Are there any strong prevention programs in your state or community that are not currently in the Clearinghouse? Could any of those programs be ready for an evaluation?
Review relevant data.
There are several data points that can help inform Family First implementation in your state, and whether any programs may be ripe for an evaluation.
Research how much Title IV-E prevention money is your state drawing down and how many families are being served. Although federal expenditure data shows an increase in spending in 2023, there are still many states that have not yet leveraged any federal funds.
Engage key stakeholders, including those who have experienced the system.
For strong implementation, you need to bring together the full constellation of people who will be impacted by the new policy or practice. This should always include youth and caregivers, including parents, who have experienced system involvement or participated in the programs you’re considering.
Consult with families, youth, and community partners about what prevention services are needed in their communities, and what challenges exist in accessing those services.
Engage with leaders and partners from other systems that provide services and supports to families – such as public health, early childhood, schools, substance use treatment, and mental health - to understand broader needs and available services.
Inform key constituents - such as youth advisory boards and state legislators – about the child maltreatment prevention opportunity and how the impact of Family First could be expanded.
Research local universities and start building relationships with potential evaluators who could be partners in the opportunity.
Getting this feedback may happen through a series of small group conversations, a statewide forum or convening, breakout sessions at conferences, webinars, etc. Think about the individuals and groups that you need to engage, and what formats might work best for them.
Your Title IV-B agency is also required to engage with and consult key stakeholders in the development of programs and policies. You may be able to partner with them to leverage or expand on existing forums for sharing feedback and bringing stakeholders together.
Take action.
Based on what you’ve learned from the data and key stakeholders, do you think this grant opportunity would be beneficial in your state or community? If so, stay informed about future RPG funding opportunities by regularly checking the Children’s Bureau website and Grants.gov.
Not every program is ready for an evaluation. If you have a identified a prevention program that might fit this opportunity, leverage resources like the Urban Institute’s Evaluating Your Capacity for Impact Evaluation: A Guide for Public Child Welfare Agencies and Service Providers to help you understand if it has everything it needs for the type of evaluation required by the Clearinghouse.
Resources for Going Deeper
Learn more about the research requirements built into the Family First Act: Applying the Research and Evaluation Provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act (Child Trends)
Explore the programs that have been reviewed by the Clearinghouse. You can sort by the rating the program received: Programs and Services Reviewed (Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse)
Dive deep into Family First prevention implementation challenges and successes: Using the Family First Act to Grow and Nurture Support Systems for Families of Young Children A look at promotion, prevention, and Family First Act implementation in six states (Child Trends and ZERO TO THREE)
Boost your understanding of key terms in evaluation and concepts in evaluation and evidence-based programs: Roadmaps to Building Child Welfare Evidence Resource Series (Child Welfare Evidence Strengthening Team (CWEST)) and Child Welfare Evidence-Building Academy: A Training on Rigorous Evaluation Design and Implementation (federal Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE))
