ASPE released a new brief, How Some States Use Title IV-E Foster Care Funding for Family-based Facilities that Treat Substance Use Disorders, highlighting four states, California, Minnesota, Montana, and Utah. The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) allows states to claim reimbursement from the federal title IV-E foster care program for foster care maintenance payments of eligible children in a foster care placement alongside their parent in a licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse.
Utah and Montana have utilized family based facilities for trial home visits before FFPSA was passed in 2018. In Utah before Family First there was no funding stream for children’s room and board. Utah has seen “positive reunification outcomes using foster care placements in family based facilities.” Some outcomes include 64 percent of children who exited the placement in a family based facility and 84 percent subsequently exited foster care were reunified with their parent at case closure. Minnesota and California are making plans to use the FFPSA allowance.
California has more than 80 family based facilities across the state to serve families with children in foster care, whereas Minnesota, Montana, and Utah each has about 5 facilities. The benefit of having foster care placements in family based facilities is that some children in foster care will be able to remain with their parent while they receive residential treatment. There are many challenges with implementing this funding including lack of family based facilities, aligning policies and funding streams for both adults and children.
