Bill Text: MI HR0262 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: A resolution to urge the United States Congress to expand the federal Family First Prevention Services Act by allowing flexibility in the use of Title IV-E funds to help children remain safely in their homes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2022-05-11 - Adopted [HR0262 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2021-HR0262-Enrolled.html
house resolution no.262
Reps. Brenda Carter, Whiteford, Green, Wakeman, Brann, Kahle, Young, Pohutsky, Tyrone Carter, O'Malley, Haadsma, Sneller and Sowerby offered the following resolution:
Whereas, In the United States, nearly half a million children are in foster care. Michigan ranks 18th in the country for the number of children, per capita, placed in out-of-home care, with approximately 13,000 children in foster care or a residential placement on any given day; and
Whereas, Research shows that children in the foster system have the best outcomes when they are placed in a safe and stable environment that supports their long-term well-being. Instead of subjecting children to the trauma of being separated from their family and placed out of their home, more efforts are being made to provide struggling and overburdened families with the resources they need to create a stable and loving environment; and
Whereas, The Family First Prevention Services Act, signed into law in 2018, was enacted to help increase the number of children who can remain safely at home with their families. The law allows states to use federal funding available under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to address some of the issues that contribute to family separation. Currently, the Family First Prevention Services Act allows funding for a narrow range of services, including substance use prevention and treatment, in-home parenting skills classes, and kinship navigator services. While these services are essential, there are many other areas in which families require assistance; and
Whereas, Poverty and homelessness, for example, have been shown to be associated with the separation of families, and many studies have documented that children in families who experience homelessness frequently become separated from their parents. Poverty leads to housing instability and parents often struggle to provide for their children’s basic needs. Helping parents out of poverty and providing stable environments for children would allow more families to stay together, which would reduce the number of children that have to endure the foster care system; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the United States Congress to expand the federal Family First Prevention Services Act by allowing flexibility in the use of Title IV-E funds to help children remain safely in their homes; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.
