The Statute Provides More Flexibility for Review than Allowed by the Current Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse Handbook of Standards and Procedures

This brief analyzes what is statutorily required through the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) and how the Clearinghouse is currently evaluating programs and services under the handbook with the goal of identifying potential opportunities to improve Title IV-E prevention services availability at the federal level to ultimately reduce the number of children entering foster care at the state and local levels.

Key Findings:

• After initial implementation, there is an opportunity to increase the kinds of prevention programs and services for which jurisdictions can receive federal support by using the full flexibility Congress provided in FFPSA. 
   
• There is a potential gap between statutory requirements and requirements in the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse handbook. The handbook is more restrictive on study eligibility, study design and execution, and service eligibility.

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