Child Welfare Grant for Using Family Decision Making

The Administration for Children and Families(ACF), Children's Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services recently announced a notice of availability for Family Connection Grants.  Authorized under the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, these grants will be awarded as demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of Family Group Decision-making (FGDM) as a tool for preventing children and youth from entering or re-entering foster care. As ACF explains, FGDM models provide a forum for family members to work together to identify needs and potential solutions that support safety, permanency, and well-being of their children. The grants will test the theory that FGDM meetings connect children and youth who are at-risk to family members in ways that will encourage permanency and support long-term family well-being.  Further, the grant will encourage the use of FGDM meetings to support and promote protective factors such as nurturing and attachment; knowledge of parenting and child development; parental resilience; social connections; and concrete support for parents. By building protective factors, the FGDM process can help families deal with stressors that could lead to abuse or neglect.

Eligible applicants include state, city, and county governments; federally recognized tribal governments and organizations; and nonprofit and faith-based institutions other than institutions of higher education. Grantees will be expected to disseminate the knowledfe learned from the project with the field to inform policy and practice.

Note that in accordance with the Fostering Connections Act, grantees are required to meet a non-Federal share of the project costs. Grantees must provide at least 25 percent of the total approved cost of the project for the first 2 years of the project period and 50 percent of the total approved cost of the project in the third year of the project period.  The non-Federal share may be met by cash or in-kind contributions; but no more than 50% of the non-federal share may be in kind.

The full notice can be found here. Applications are due July 27, 2011.

For more information on protective factors, see CSSP's Strengthening Families Project.

See also PolicyforResults.org Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect