Children and Youth Advancements Under Assistant Secretary Contreras’ Leadership

Publication Date: August 11, 2023

As Assistant Secretary January Contreras ends her tenure leading the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), ACF is highlighting some of the work that she has been a part of supporting and advancing. 

 

Family First Prevention Services Act

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) was signed in to law in February 2018. Its purpose was to turn the focus of the child welfare system toward keeping children safely with their families to avoid the trauma that results when children are placed in out-of-home care. To increase the number of children who can remain safely at home with their families, the law provides families with greater access to mental health services, substance use treatment, and/or parenting skills courses. Assistant Secretary Contreras led Children’s Bureau (CB) effort to focus on closely supporting jurisdictions to develop and submit their title IV-E prevention plans to unlock the resources available through FFPSA. As of April 2022, 22 jurisdictions had approved prevention plans. By August 2023, CB had approved 43 title IV-E prevention plans, including four Tribes. CB continues to support the remaining jurisdictions that are working to submit plans and are providing policy and technical support for jurisdictions that are submitting amendments to their plans. As part of that effort, CB issued a Dear Colleague Letter (PDF) that highlights some title IV-E prevention program plans and links to those plans; provides information about technical assistance resources; and a link to a page that lists each jurisdiction’s approved plan and a link to those plans.

 

Equitable Child Support Policy

Assistant Secretary Contreras has remained focused on infusing equity into child welfare policy and program administration. As such, with an eye toward equity and supporting families, Children’s Bureau changed its policy about assigning rights to child support. Instead of automatically referring families to the child support agency when a child enters foster care, ACF encourages child welfare agencies to implement across-the-board policies that only require an assignment of the rights to child support for children who receive title IV-E FCMPs in very rare circumstances. Many parent(s) of children who receive FCMP are living in poverty and are too often required to pay child support to the state to offset the cost of their child placed in foster care. This can negatively impact a family that is trying to develop and maintain familial and economic stability to reunify with their child. In a Dear Colleague Letter, (PDF) CB details research and values that underlie the policy change making clear that this change supports families and can have economic benefits for agencies as well.

 

Independent Legal Representation

As part of the Assistant Secretary and CB’s robust regulatory and equity agenda, and as announced in the Fall 2022 Unified Agenda , CB will promulgate a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to allow title IV-E federal financial participation for foster care legal representation for children and their parents/caregivers for civil matters that impact child welfare involvement. This proposal is important because a disproportionate number of children of color enter foster care, often stay longer, and are less likely to reunify with their families or be adopted. From an equity lens, legal representation is a tool that could improve permanency outcomes for children of color. In addition, this could assist families adversely affected by poverty to resolve issues such as unstable housing, evictions or homelessness when confronted with a child being removed from home. This proposal can help to support children and families, keep families together, and help to bring separated families back together.

 

Supporting Kinship Care

As part of Children’s Bureau’s aggressive regulatory agenda during Assistant Contreras’ leadership, CB promulgated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and will promulgate a Final Rule allowing agencies to create separate licensing standard for relative and kinship foster family homes. Additionally, the Final Rule will require that agencies conduct periodic reviews to ensure that foster care maintenance payment rates are the same between relative and nonrelative foster family homes. This aligns with the Administration’s equity-based priorities because more flexible standards may have a strong impact on underserved groups by providing the financial assistance to kinship placements because relatives who care for their kin are more likely to live in poverty, be older, more likely to be single, more likely to be African American, and be less well educated. In addition to creating law in support of kinship caregivers, this Final Rule can improve outcomes for children and the relatives that care for them.

 

Advancing Equity

Under the leadership of the Assistant Secretary, Children’s Bureau has been deliberate with its efforts to advance equity within the child welfare space by partnering with individuals with lived experience, community and human service agencies through deep examination of policies and practices that may contribute to disproportionality and disparity. As a result, CB has engaged strategies and actions to create funding pathways, and increase transition supports. Field-Initiated Approach to Addressing Racial Bias and Inequity in Child Welfare Department of Health and Human Services Discretionary Grant is a Children’s Bureau funding opportunity that will allow communities to apply for funding to design and lead targeted solutions to local issues of systemic disproportionality and inequitable access to services experienced by traditionally underserved communities at varying points across the child welfare continuum. In addition, CB issued a child maltreatment report including a special focus chapter that examines racial and ethnic differences within child maltreatment data to identify where disproportionality exists, and to aid the child welfare sector with information that can help prevent future disproportionality. The Child Maltreatment 2021 report, issued this year, found the lowest number of children identified as victims of maltreatment in the last five years.

 

Supporting Young People

The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) partnered with the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary (IOAS) on a series of three workshops focused on program supports for young adults. Adolescents and young adults up to age 25 are experiencing rapid brain development at a pace second only to the birth-to-five period in life. It’s an exciting time of growth and change that challenges service providers to think differently about how to engage this population to get to the best outcomes. The workshop series was designed to share innovative and best practices for serving young adults with ACF programs and encourage them to support grantees in serving 18- to 25-year-old participants in their programs. Workshops showcased OPRE’s cutting edge research and tools in co-regulation, ACYF’s expertise in engaging young adults with lived experience, and human-centered design practices. Additionally, Children’s Bureau, along with an external partner, held a convening of young adult ambassadors from across the country who have lived experience in foster care to discuss their experiences and needs while transitioning out of care. CB is listening to these powerful voices to inform future action in the young adult space. Assistant Secretary Contreras had the opportunity to meet these leaders, and many other young leaders who provide guidance based on their own lived experience.

 

Ensuring continued coverage for young people as they leave the foster care system and transition to adulthood is critical to addressing health and social inequities. CB partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide child welfare-specific guidance and implementation recommendations (PDF) for the SUPPORT Act (the guidance). The SUPPORT Act requires states to provide Medicaid to a young adult who has transitioned from foster care in one state and moves to another state. On May 11, 2023, CB and CMS jointly hosted a national webinar reviewing the new Medicaid requirements.

 

Preventive and Proactive Approach to Ensuring Youth and Young Adult Well-Being

In 2023, Assistant Secretary Contreras supported the launch of a new prevention initiative to support youth at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. The Family and Youth Services Bureau’s (FYSB) Division of Runaway and Homeless Youth released the new Runaway and Homeless Youth Prevention Demonstration Project (RHY-PDP) Notice of Funding Opportunity. The goal of the RHY-PDP is to expand existing partnerships among service providers in key areas, such as education, health, mental health, child welfare, family support, substance abuse prevention/intervention, domestic violence/crisis intervention, law enforcement, courts, legal services, and other non-traditional partners, to create a comprehensive safety net that will improve the accessibility, delivery, and quality of prevention services for youth and young adults who are at highest risk of experiencing homelessness.

 

Coordination Efforts with the Department of Education

Under Assistant Secretary Contreras’ leadership, FYSB engaged in several collaborative efforts with the Department of Education.

  • In November 2022, FYSB and DOE published a joint partnership statement to encourage schools, youth-serving organizations, educators, and other school professionals to support and engage in National Runaway Prevention Month (NRPM) activities.
  • On November 30, 2022, FYSB served on a panel of a DOE-sponsored webinar titled, “Lessons from the Field: Supporting the Unique Needs of Students Who Have Runaway or Are Homeless” to share information on services and data on youth contacts to the National Runaway Safeline (NRS).
  • On March 16, 2023, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) and the Department of Education released a joint Dear Colleague Letter which announces a collaborative re-engagement between the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support educational attainment for youth.
  • On August 1, 2023, in coordination with FYSB and the Children’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Higher Education Programs hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the Student Service-administered programs, including Federal TRIO programs; Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP); and the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. The programs administered by Student Service are designed to identify and provide services to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including but not limited to low-income students, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities. 

 

Healthy Sexuality for Youth in Foster Care

An Online Training for Parents and Caregivers Assistant Secretary Contreras has supported access to information and education related to healthy sexuality through the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program. As such, FYSB developed a curriculum and accompanying support materials for parents and caregivers of youth in foster care. This online training helps parents and caregivers of youth in foster care learn about topics related to adolescent sexual health and strengthens their communication skills for discussing these topics with youth.

 

Advancing Mental Health Supports for Youth of Color Experiencing Homelessness

As part of the Assistant Secretary and FYSB’s commitment to prioritizing equity and the health and well-being of youth and young adults, FYSB released a joint Dear Colleague Letter that reflects the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB); the Office of Minority Health (OMH); and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA) commitment to highlight critical resources to support the mental health of youth of color experiencing homelessness and other youth populations critically in need of services and supports. 

 

Advancing Equity in Sexual Health Education: A Toolkit for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Grantees

As part of FYSB’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and with the support of Assistant Secretary Contreras’ leadership, FYSB released a Toolkit to equip Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grantees with information and strategies to address health disparities and advance health equity in PREP programming.

 

Leading in Partnership with Youth and Young Adults with Lived Experience

Under the leadership of the Assistant Secretary, FYSB has engaged in several listening sessions and focus groups with youth and young adults with lived experience of homelessness to ensure that all FYSB programs and services are responsive to the needs of young people. On June 28, 2022, Assistant Secretary and FYSB leadership participated in a listening session with youth who identify as LGBTQIA2S+ and who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability to ensure we are supporting safe and inclusive spaces for all young people. Assistant Secretary Contreras has continued to engage youth and young adults with lived experience throughout her tenure visiting numerous RHY programs and hearing directly from youth how ACF does and can support them in their journeys.

 

Creating Equitable and Safe Services and Programming for LGBTQI+ Youth

In addition, ACF programs work to create safe and nurturing spaces for children and families, and to support systems — including in child welfare and runaway and homeless youth programming — where all are welcomed and safe. With a strong foundation already laid, this work was an important priority under Assistant Secretary’s leadership. CB has created extensive new LGBTI+ resources in child welfare and FYSB has done the same for youth and staff involved with the Runaway and Homeless Youth system.

These are just some examples of important work advanced under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Contreras. Her commitment to the well-being of children, young adults, and families has been evident each day. The leadership of Commissioner Rebecca Gaston-Jones, Associate Commissioner Schomburg, and Associate Commissioner Waller will continue to advance this work and more.