The Family First Prevention Services Act created funding support for child welfare agencies to prevent children from entering foster care. Agencies wishing to draw on these funds must develop rigorous candidacy criteria to implement “evidence-based prevention services” and have their prevention plans reviewed by the federal Administration on Children and Families (ACF).
Evident Change can help agencies with their Family First efforts. As the first organization to have an independent technical review process approved by ACF and as a partner in the FamilyFirstAct.org collaborative, we have singular expertise at helping to evaluate programming to see if it meets federal standards.
Our team includes doctorate-level researchers as well as advanced social work practitioners. We can help with:
- An independent technical review of desired prevention programs, including preparing materials for submission and answering technical review questions;
- Creating and evaluating research-based candidacy criteria for Family First funds, particularly for agencies using SDM assessments;
- Creating prevention plans that help agencies meet federal requirements for Family First funding while also better aligning needs and services and improving outcomes;
- Creating and monitoring outcome metrics for prevention plans;
- Research to explore data-informed candidacy criteria;
- Measuring outcomes for racial equity;
- Creating evaluation plans; and
- Prevention services gap analysis, which may include comparing prevention service needs to available service types and capacity along with identifying new services to meet local needs.
To talk with our Family First team, contact Cynthia Burnson, PhD, by email or at (800) 306-6223.