It’s been hyped as “revolutionary,” a “landmark” and a law that “blows up the nation’s troubled foster care system.” But the so-called Family First Preservation Services Act is none of those things. Yes, the law allows some federal money formerly limited to foster care to be shifted into better alternatives. But the limits on what can be funded are so severe that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that, out of the billions of federal dollars lavished on foster care, only $130 million per year will be moved into better options. ...
But while everybody was paying attention to Family First, the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) made a policy change that has the potential to do vastly more to help children and families. Indeed, if Family First is the lion that squeaked, this policy change is the mouse that may roar
