Federal legislation provides funding for State grants to provide services that will prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families, improve their quality of care, and ensure permanency for children by reuniting them with their parents, through adoption, or via another permanent living arrangement. Federal programs related to family support include the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) program, the Family Preservation and Family Support Services Act of 1993, the Promoting Safe and Stable Families provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, and the Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001.
The following resources provide a broad overview of policies addressing family support services and program approaches to providing such services to families.
Economic Opportunity
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Offers information to practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the general public on CFES' three-pronged approach to alleviating poverty, which incorporates strategies for workforce development, family economic support, and community investment.
The Federal Poverty and Family Support Tracker
ZERO TO THREE (2016)
Presents a basic overview of Federal programs that provide support to children and their families. The resource also includes a chart with information on the name of each law, an overview of each, dates of authorization, and more.
Home Visiting: Improving Outcomes for Children
National Conference of State Legislatures (2018)
Explores home visiting as a prevention strategy to support pregnant women and new mothers to promote infant and child health, foster educational development and school readiness, and help prevent child abuse and neglect. The website discusses research on home visiting, overviews Federal programs that support the effort, describes how States are implementing home visiting programs, and outlines key questions to consider.
National Home Visiting Resource Center
Provides information about early childhood home visiting and works to support sound decisions in policy and practice to help children and families thrive. The organization tracks research and data, posts news about home visiting, and links to related resources.
Programs for Children and Families
Rural Health Information Hub (2018)
Provides an overview of programs for rural children and families and addresses a range of services for families with low incomes, such as education, violence prevention, and foster care and adoption.
Programs for Families and Children
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Lists Federal programs available to assist families and help prevent abuse. The information provided covers topics such as financial aid, child care/child support programs, and child abuse prevention.
Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting
FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
Describes the efforts of 17 federally funded grantees implementing evidence-based home visiting programs in their communities. The website includes information on home visiting models, cross-site evaluation results, and more.
Two-Generation Strategies Toolkit
National Conference of State Legislatures (2018)
Examines a new approach to helping families break the cycle of poverty. This approach is known as a two-generation, intergenerational, multigenerational, or whole-family strategy. These efforts are taking hold in several States, and the toolkit outlines these examples.
ZERO TO THREE Home Visiting Community Planning Tool (PDF - 286 KB)
ZERO TO THREE (2016)
Guides communities through the process of creating new or expanding existing home visiting services. The tool helps communities use data to identify strengths, needs, and gaps in current home visiting services; choose an evidence-based program model; and align local level work with State efforts.