[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 106 (Friday, July 1, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1016-E1018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               H.R. 5456

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VERN BUCHANAN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 1, 2016

  Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following on H.R. 5456, the 
Family First Prevention Services Act of 2016:

                                           Voice for Adoption,

                                    Washington, DC, June 13, 2016.
       Dear Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Levin:
       Dear Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden:
       Dear Chairman Buchanan and Ranking Member Doggett:
       Today I offer Voice for Adoption's full support of the 
     proposed Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456). It 
     takes historic and long overdue steps to direct federal child 
     welfare dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children 
     and families. I urge you to move toward a timely mark up in 
     both the House and the Senate so these vulnerable

[[Page E1017]]

     children do not have to wait longer for these important 
     reforms. Voice for Adoption (VFA) is a national advocacy 
     organization with a mission to speak in a single voice with 
     policy-makers, representing the interests of more than 
     100,000 foster children awaiting adoption and the families 
     who adopt them.
       The Family First Prevention Services Act would allow 
     adoptive families to receive needed post-adoption services by 
     allowing states to use Title IV-E funds to pay for up to 12 
     months of family services that can prevent children from 
     reentering foster care, and help keep the children safely in 
     their adoptive families.
       While the Families First Prevention Services Act would 
     delay final implementation of additional federal adoption 
     assistance reimbursement for the adoptions of infants and 
     toddlers, VFA is willing to support this delay as a way to 
     extend needed services. VFA was pleased to see a Government 
     Accountability Office (GAO) study that will examine 
     compliance with the Fostering Connections to Success and 
     Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-135) requirement 
     that states reinvest the state funds freed up by providing 
     additional federal reimbursement.
       Beyond the important post-adoption support this Act will 
     provide, the Family First Prevention Services Act takes 
     important steps to ensure children who need care will be 
     placed in the least-restrictive, most family-like setting 
     appropriate to their needs.
       VFA will offer our continued support in the implementation 
     of the Families First Prevention Services Act to ensure that 
     the voice of the adoption community is heard--specifically to 
     assure that the Act does provide critical post-adoption 
     services that assist in keeping children with their adoptive 
     families and helps children to avoid reentering the foster 
     care system and in crafting the GAO report.
       VFA looks forward to working with all of you to make the 
     proposed improvements for children in the Family First 
     Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456) a reality. Thank you for 
     your continuing leadership on behalf of the most vulnerable 
     children and their families.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                    Schylar Baber,
     Executive Director.
                                  ____


                        Ways and Means Committee


                    Family First Prevention Services
                              Act of 2016

       Strengthen families by providing evidence-based prevention 
     services to keep children out of foster care and reduce 
     inappropriate group home placements.


    Support for the Family First Prevention Services Act (National)

       1. AAJ Research & Evaluation (Florida)
       2. Adoption Exchange Association
       3. Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, Inc and the 
     Kinship Program
       4. Advocates for Children and Youth (Maryland)
       5. Advocates for Children of New Jersey
       6. Alliance for Strong Families and Communities
       7. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
       8. American Bar Association (ABA)
       9. American Psychological Association (APA)
       10. American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
       11. Arizona's Children Association
       12. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
       13. Association of University Centers on Disability
       14. Brazelton Touchpoints Project, Inc.
       15. CASA Youth Advocates (Pennsylvania)
       16. Catholic Charities USA
       17. Center for Children's Justice (Pennsylvania)
       18. Center for Native American Youth
       19. Center for Public Priorities (Texas)
       20. Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)
       21. Child and Family Policy Center (Iowa)
       22. Child and Family Services of New Hampshire
       23. Child Care Aware of America
       24. Child First, Inc.
       25. Child Welfare League of America
       26. Children & Families First (Delaware)
       27. Children and Family Futures
       28. Children Awaiting Parents (New York)
       29. Children First for Oregon
       30. Children's Action Alliance (Arizona)
       31. Children's Advocacy Alliance (Nevada)
       32. Children's Advocacy Institute
       33. Children's Defense Fund--California
       34. Children's Defense Fund--Minnesota
       35. Children's Defense Fund--Mississippi
       36. Children's Defense Fund--New York
       37. Children's Defense Fund--Texas
       38. Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
       39. Children's Home + Aid (Illinois)
       40. Children's Home Society of America
       41. Children's Home Society of North Carolina
       42. Children's Hospital Associations
       43. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
       44. Children's Leadership Council
       45. Children's Rights
       46. Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Inc.
       47. Coalition of Human Needs
       48. Conference of Chief Justices
       49. Conference of State Court Administrators
       50. Connecticut Voices for Children
       51. Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
       52. Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (North Dakota)
       53. Every Child Matters
       54. Family Policy Alliance
       55. First Focus Campaign for Children (FFCC)
       56. Florida's Children First, Inc.
       57. Focus on the Family
       58. Foster Adopt Connect
       59. Foster Adopt Connect (Missouri and Kansas)
       60. Foster Club
       61. Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FETA)
       62. Generations United
       63. Governor Gary R. Herbert--State of Utah
       64. Healthy Teen Network
       65. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters 
     (HIPPY)
       66. Human Rights Project for Girls (Rights4Girls)
       67. Illinois Department of Children & Family Services
       68. Juvenile Law Center (JLC)
       69. Juvenile Law Center (Pennsylvania)
       70. Kansas Appleseed
       71. Kentucky Youth Advocates
       72. Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services 
     (DCFS)
       73. Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
       74. Lutheran Social Services of Indiana
       75. Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange
       76. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
       77. Michigan's Children
       78. Nathan L. Hecht--Chief Justice--The Supreme Court of 
     Texas
       79. National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc.
       80. National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention 
     Funds
       81. National Association for Children of Alcoholics
       82. National Association for Children's Behavioral Health 
     (NACBH)
       83. National Association of Black Social Workers
       84. National Association of Counsel for Children
       85. National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
       86. National Association of Public Child Welfare 
     Administrators (NAPCWA)
       87. National Association of Social Workers
       88. National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse 
     Directors (NASADAD)
       89. National Center on Adoption and Pregnancy
       90. National Center on Child Welfare and Housing
       91. National Center on Shared Leadership
       92. National Child Abuse Coalition
       93. National Children's Alliance
       94. National Family Preservation Network
       95. National Foster Parent Association
       96. National Foster Parent Association
       97. National Indian Child Welfare Association
       98. National Kinship Alliance for Children
       99. Nebraska Appleseed
       100. New Mexico Voices for Children
       101. New York Coalition for Child Welfare Finance Reform
       102. North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)
       103. Parents Anonymous Inc.
       104. Parents as Teachers
       105. Partners for Our Children (Washington)
       106. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
       107. Prevent Child Abuse America/Healthy Families America
       108. Ray E. Helfer Society
       109. Strengthening Families All Across America
       110. The Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc.
       111. The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
       112. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
       113. The Children's Partnership (California)
       114. The Dalton Daley Group
       115. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
       116. The Donaldson Adoption Institute, Inc.
       117. The Mockingbird Society
       118. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned 
     Pregnancy
       119. The National Crittenton Foundation (TNCF)
       120. The Ounce of Prevention Fund (Illinois)
       121. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' 
     Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development
       122. Think of Us
       123. University of California Davis Guardian Professions 
     Program
       124. Voice for Adoption
       125. VOICES (California)
       126. Voices for Alabama's Children
       127. Voices for Children in Nebraska
       128. Voices for Ohio's Children
       129. Voices for Vermont's Children
       130. Voices for Virginia's Children
       131. YMCA of San Diego County, Kinship Support Program
       132. YMCA of the USA
       133. Youth Law Center
       134. Youth Law Center (California)
       135. Youth Villages
       136. Zero to Three


                            Notable Remarks

       ``[The Families First Prevention Services Act] not only 
     recognizes the unique needs of children and families in 
     adversity, but also makes great strides to meet them in a way 
     that pediatricians can stand behind: through

[[Page E1018]]

     evidence-based, prevention-focused approaches. The bill 
     offers states much-needed federal funding to support mental 
     health, substance abuse and in-home parenting skills programs 
     for families of children at-risk of entering foster care.''--
     American Academy of Pediatrics
       ``[The Family First Prevention Services Act] takes historic 
     and long overdue steps to direct federal child welfare 
     dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and 
     families . . . [It] takes important steps to ensure children 
     who need foster care will be placed in the least-restrictive 
     most family-like setting appropriate to their needs, and 
     gives special attention to children whose emotional or other 
     special needs require residential treatment.''--Children's 
     Defense Fund
       ``We greatly appreciate the flexibility in federal funding 
     for evidence-based prevention services and the strong focus 
     in the [Families First Prevention Services Act] on child 
     well-being''--Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
       ``We strongly support the Family First [Prevention 
     Services] Act and believe it would greatly improve the 
     ability of child welfare agencies to keep children in their 
     own homes and shorten their time in the system if they do 
     enter.''--Juvenile Law Center
       The [Family First Prevention Services Act] aligns very 
     closely with what we consider an essential focus on 
     preventing the occurrence and recurrence of child abuse and 
     neglect whenever possible. It also supports the practice of 
     keeping or returning kids safely home, rather than in foster 
     care, whenever possible.''--Massachusetts Law Reform 
     Institute
       ``Federal support for prevention services will be a win-win 
     for children and families throughout the country''--Citizens' 
     Committee for Children
       ``The Act will expand the availability of such services and 
     reflects the reality that many families, including adoptive 
     families, need targeted, effective services to meet their 
     children's needs and prevent foster care entry.''--North 
     American Council on Adoptable Children
       ``We firmly believe that far too many children are placed 
     in group care for no therapeutic reason, which research 
     suggests can harm children.''--North American Council on 
     Adoptable Children
       ``We feel that the [Family First Prevention Services Act] 
     offers the important possibility of allowing funds to provide 
     vital mental health, substance use and in-home services that 
     could help children stay with their own families.''--Child 
     Welfare League of America
       ``[The Family First Prevention Services Act] takes historic 
     and long overdue steps to direct federal child welfare 
     dollars to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and 
     families.''--Voice for Adoption
       ``Supports offered through the Family First Prevention 
     Services Act such as individual and family therapy, home 
     visiting and kinship navigator programs can offer relatives 
     the support they need to keep children out of foster care and 
     help them thrive.''--Generations United

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