Family First Prevention Services Act: Implications for Addressing Youth Homelessness

This paper from the National Network for Youth (NN4Y) looks at how the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) could be leveraged to address homelessness among youth and young adults involved in the foster care system. Family First offers important new options to prevent young people’s entry into foster care and to challenge states to use congregate care only as a last resort. While the Family First Act was not designed to address youth homelessness, there are aspects of the new law that could help fund services for these young people, prevent some of its root causes, and provide a stronger foundation for collaboration between child welfare, runaway and homeless youth providers, and other youth-serving systems. (author abstract modified)