GEORGIA'S BLUEPRINT FOR FAMILY FIRST
Hello!
As we look forward to implementing the federal Family First Act in Georgia, we want to thank everyone who has supported us so far. We’re excited to give you an update on the hard work happening now and leading up to a successful launch in 2020.
The Family First Act in Georgia:
Because Kids Deserve to Grow Up in Families
The Division of Family and Children Services and its stakeholders have always put families first and Georgia will soon receive even more tools to do just that. Family First allows Title IV-E money to be used for evidence-based prevention services that help keep families together and kids out of foster care.

For children who cannot remain at home, Family First offers extended family members access to the same array of services to help children remain safely with them, and increases access to options for youth in need of residential treatment. While there will not be new funding for child placements, we are looking for opportunities to strengthen our practice to meet the individualized needs of children and youth.
Almost 700 stakeholders responded to the Family First survey this summer and/or participated in one of the listening sessions with Lexicon Strategies, the consultants assisting us with communications for Family First.

 Thank you to all who participated!

We are listening. Your thoughts and suggestions are helping to shape our communications plan—including new technologies, communication tools, newsletters and videos—to make sure you have the information you need about Family First in Georgia.

Internal DFCS Pilot

We also want to let you know about the progress of an internal systems pilot we are launching next week in Whitfield and Jackson counties to explore DFCS’s own systems as we continue to prepare for Family First implementation.

This will include timing of case planning and decision support for identifying children at risk of coming into foster care, as well as processes for ongoing safety assessments. All of this work is happening behind-the-scenes at a DFCS systems level, leveraging providers under existing Promoting Safe and Stable Families contracts, and should promote positive outcomes for families.

We’ll use what we learn from the pilot to adjust DFCS business practices, particularly in relation to ensuring the state’s ability to draw down Title IV-E funding for prevention services. As we continue to shape the program, which will include a significant update to SHINES, this kind of work is essential to inform our implementation and training needs across the agency. Thank you to the staff and providers who are participating.
Provider concerns over QRTP Guidance

We have heard many providers’ concerns that Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) could be defined as Institutions of Mental Disease (IMDs) and that children placed in QRTPs could be disqualified from Medicaid coverage. 

Based on recent guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, we are in conversation with the Department of Community Health to address this issue before implementing QRTP contracts.

Timeline

As we plan for Family First implementation, we think it’s important to share with you what we know, as well as what we are still developing.
These dates may change as we gain more information through evolving federal guidance, as well as our own studies and pilots. However, we want to provide a general awareness of some of our current plans.
  • FALL 2019: Launch Blueprint for Family First website including knowledge base and video updates; Define “candidate for foster care,” essentially, identifying who’s eligible to receive preventative services under Family First.
  • WINTER 2019: Examination and identification of preventative services to be funded by Family First.

Public Call for Programs and Services

The Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse announced they are accepting recommendations for mental health, substance abuse, in-home parent skill-based, and kinship navigator programs and services to be considered for systematic review.

For information about how to submit recommendations or comments, visit the Clearinghouse website. DFCS is also working with the Center of Excellence at Georgia State University to coordinate a response and will provide more information about our response in the coming weeks.

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