CWLA continues to engage with committee staff and member offices on a pathway forward to address the proposed legislation. At this time, it is critical that we unite in our message – the Family First Transition and Support Act must pass as a comprehensive package, including the “de-link” from the 1996 AFDC eligibility requirements for children placed in family foster care; the significant increase in flexible funding to help kinship families in crisis; the increase in funding to all states for workforce development, for the first time, research funding for state-directed use, greater flexibility in how much of Family First funding that must be spent on “well-supported” services and important increases in funding for Regional Partnership Grants (RPGs) and the Court Improvement Program (CIP).
What you can do to help amplify the Family First Transition Support Act (FFTSA):
• Continue to encourage constituents and stakeholder to advocate for FFTSA.
• Encourage Members of Congress to sign on to the legislation.
• Convene community roundtables to educate the community on the importance of the legislation.
• Build social media campaigns and let us know so our communications team could uplift the messages.
• Encourage supporting offices to make public statements and issue press releases on FFTSA.
o *Statements could be tailored to fit a specific issue, such as courts, child health, kinship care, substance use disorder, TANF, adoption, etc. For example, see Senator Brown’s press release related to kinship supports and the work of the Grandparents Advisory Council.
Please find below supporting materials to help in your outreach:
• The Family First Transition and Support Act
• Congressional Description
• CWLA Description & CRS Description
• Congressional Research Services (CRS) Analysis
o AFDC Lookback Background Report
o FFTSA Funding Increase to the States
• CWLA AFDC Explanation
• Organizational Endorsement List
