The Family First Prevention Services Act
What is Family First?
The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA or Family First), passed into Federal law in 2018. This Act aimed to help families stay safely together by offering services that promote family safety and stability by addressing mental health and substance use needs, building nurturing parenting skills, and helping kinship caregivers navigate resources and supports for the child in their care.
These prevention-focused supports are designed to reduce the need for foster care by strengthening family well-being early on, before challenges escalate to crises that require family involvement with the child welfare system.
Adopted by The Kansas Department for Children and Families (KS DCF) in 2019, Family First has supported delivery of community-based services in all 105 Kansas counties. Services vary by county and include an array of community-based support services tailored to community needs. Contracted service providers deliver these services to families in local communities who need additional support to sustain safety and stability.
The University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research (KU-CPPR) is leading the evaluation of FFPSA efforts in Kansas to understand the collective impact of these programs. This evaluation is conducted in close partnership with KS DCF with guidance and direction from the Kansas Family First Family Council (FFFC) and the Kansas Interagency and Community Advisory Board (ICAB).
Findings of the evaluation to date suggest participation in early, supportive interventions impact child and caregiver well-being and long-term family stability (See Family First Impact for recent findings).
Family First Service Menu
The Family First Prevention Services Act allows states like Kansas to offer services that help families resolve challenges and stay together safely without the need for unnecessary child welfare system intervention. The Family First Service Menu outlines support available in each county through Kansas’s approved, evidence-based prevention programs.
Each section of the service menu includes programs addressing different types of need according to the service types offered through Family First, whether it’s mental health support, substance use treatment, parenting help, kinship caregiving, or other community-based support services.
All programs included in Kansas Family First are grounded in research and/or promising approaches selected for inclusion in the Kansas prevention service array based on community priorities and what works for children and families.
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive treatment for youth delivered in the community. This program aims to promote pro-social behavior and reduce criminal activity, mental health symptomology, out-of-home placements, and illicit substance use in 12- to 17-year-old youth. The MST program addresses the core causes of problematic youth behavior by identifying and addressing key drivers of the behaviors through an ecological assessment of the youth, his or her family, and school and community.
Provider Website: Community Solutions, Inc (CSI)
Regions: Statewide
PCIT is a parent-child dyad model of intervention for families with children ages 2-7. This behavioral intervention focuses on improving parent-child relationships and enhancing the parent-child bond. PCIT uses intervention play-therapy skills as reinforcers of positive child behavior. Parents are taught the skills and use them while being coached by a therapist.
Provider Website: TFI Family
NE Region: Shawnee
SE Region: Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Franklin, Labette, Linn, Miami, Montgomery, Neosho, Osage, Wilson, Woodson
Wichita Region: Barber, Butler, Cowley, Elk, Kingman, Greenwood, Harper, Pratt, Sedgwick, Sumner
NW Region: Clay, Geary, Riley
SW Region: Lyon
SUD has been identified as a serious need for prevention services in Kansas. START is a multidimensional in-home skill-based service designed to address complex needs related to co-occurring SUD and child welfare experiences. START uses multidisciplinary teams, intensive case management, peer support, and a family-centered approach to improve child safety, increase caregiver recovery rates, and reduce out of home placement.
Provider Website: START Services DCCCA
NE Region: Jackson, Jefferson, Shawnee
SE Region: Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Neosho
This program is currently working well with the NE region and is highly utilized. They can accept pregnant women using substances. The goals of the P-CAP program are 1) to assist mothers in obtaining alcohol and drug treatment and to stay in recovery; 2) link mothers and their families to community resources that will help them build and maintain healthy and independent family lives; and 3) help mothers prevent the births of future alcohol and drug affected children.
Provider Website: Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL)
NE Region: Shawnee
KC Region: Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte
Wichita Region: Butler, Cowley, Harper, Kingman, Pratt, Sedgwick, Sumner
SW Region: Reno
The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is designed to serve the general population and at-risk families, including families experiencing parental substance use issues, teen substance use, and teen behavioral problems. SFP aims to reduce the number of youths entering foster care by helping parents increase their teen’s protective factors, reduce their teen’s risk factors, and communicate with their teens about peer pressure, sex, and relationships.
Provider Website: KVC - Strengthening Families Program
NE Region: Shawnee
KC Region: Johnson, Wyandotte
Virtual Trainings: Statewide
Seeking Safety is an integrated cognitive behavior-based model designed to concurrently address symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use concurrently. The goal is to address SUD needs of the parent and family while increasing the protective factors of the child in the home.
Provider Website: Saint Francis Ministries (SFM)
Wichita Region: Sedgwick
NW Region: Cloud, Ottawa, Saline, Sherman, Thomas
SW Region: Barton, Finney, Ford, Seward
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is a home-visiting parent education program that teaches new parents skills intended to promote positive child development and prevent child maltreatment. PAT aims to increase parent knowledge of early childhood development, improve parenting practices, promote early detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevent child abuse, and neglect, and increase school readiness and success.
Provider Website: Kansas Parents as Teachers Association (KPATA)
Regions: Statewide
Healthy Families America (HFA) is a home visiting program for new families with children 0-2yrs who are at-risk for maltreatment or adverse childhood experiences. HFA is a nationally accredited program that was developed by Prevent Child Abuse America. The overall goals of the program are to cultivate and strengthen nurturing parent-child relationships, promote healthy childhood growth and development, and enhance family functioning by reducing risk and building protective factors.
Provider Website: KVC Healthy Families America
NE Region: Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Marshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee
Provider Website: Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL)
SE Region: Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Franklin, Labette, Linn, Miami, Montgomery, Neosho, Osage, Wilson, Woodson
Wichita Region: Barber, Butler, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Kingman, Pratt, Sedgwick, Sumner
SW Region: Barton, Chase, Harvey, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Pawnee, Reno, Rice, Rush, Stafford
KC Region: Atchison, Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte
Family Mentoring Program (FMP) will provide in-home visitation, case management, support, one-on-one parent training, classroom parenting skills training, parent/child relationship intervention.
Provider Website: Child Advocacy & Parenting Skills (CAPS)
NW Region: Ottawa, Saline
Provides intensive in-home parenting education and case management services for families with children ages 6-16. provide concrete services including assistance obtaining food, transportation, housing issues and financial issues; referral to and support of parent participation in substance abuse treatment; intensive case management/advocacy to assist in eliminating barriers to the recipe of community-based services; and assistance with education and employment.
Provider Website: Parent Support and Prevention Program SE Region, KC Region
SE Region: Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Neosho
KC Region: Johnson, Wyandotte
FCT provides intensive in-home treatment services for youth (0-17) and families to prevent children being removed from the home, using psychotherapy designed to reduce maltreatment, improve caretaking and coping skills, enhance family resiliency, develop healthy and nurturing relationships, and increase children’s physical, mental, emotional and educational well-being through changing family value.
Provider Website: Saint Francis Ministries
Wichita Region: Barber, Butler, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Kingman, Pratt, Sedgwick, Sumner
NW Region: Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Decatur, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Geary, Gove, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln, Logan, Mitchell, Morris, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Russell, Saline, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Washington
SW Region: Barton, Chase, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kiowa, Lane, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Morton, Ness, Pawnee, Reno, Rice, Rush, Scott, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Wichita
Provides legal advice, representation and mediation services for guardianship, adoptions, family law issues such as protection from abuse, paternity, mediations, etc. for families statewide. Kids2Kin successfully collaborates with other programs to connect caregivers to the additional services needed.
Provider Website: Kansas Legal Services
Regions: Statewide
The Parent Advocate Program uses a lived expert peer support model to assists kinship caregivers with case management and service navigation to ensure access to the holistic services and supports needed for caregivers to successfully care for children in a kinship role. Parent advocates also connect families with an attorney if any legal guidance or services are needed to support the kinship care arrangement.
Provider Website: Kansas Legal Services
Regions: Statewide
The Community Support Specialist Program goal is to reduce contact between families and law enforcement, increase social and safety networks for families, reduce child abuse/neglect and foster care placements. Through navigation and case management support, the Community Support Specialist program connects families to supports and services that help families meet immediate needs.
Provider Website: Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Dept.
Wichita Region: Sedgwick