Selection of Candidacy Population
Define Candidate Population
FFPSA defines the term ‘child who is a candidate of foster care’ to mean “a child who is identified in a prevention plan under Social Security Act §471(e)(4)(A) as being at imminent risk of entering foster care…but who can remain safely in the child’s home or in kinship placement as long as services of programs specified in Social Security Act §471(e)(1) that are necessary to prevent the entry of the child into foster care are provided.” (Public Law 115-123, §50711).
Define Imminent Risk
California’s Five-Year State Prevention Plan details criteria used to determine whether a child is identified as at imminent risk of entering foster care.
Define Target Population
The target population for your local FFPS Program CPP can include, but is not limited to, those at greatest risk of entry or re-entry into foster care, those disproportionately represented in the system, and underserved populations.
Is the selection of a candidate population a required component of the Comprehensive Prevention Plan? YES.
- ACL 22-23 (March 10, 2022), page 9, a description and rationale for the selection of the candidacy population(s) to be prioritized, as specified in WIC §16586, must be documented.
- ACL 22-23 (March 10, 2022)Page 5, “The CPP must include a description of the completed analysis and how the information was used to help agencies identify the candidate groups and/or other priority populations…”
Resources
Examples of Selected Candidacy Populations for FFPSA by Chapin Hall
This document reflects responses gathered from the [State, child welfare leadership staff, other Family First work groups, readiness assessment, stakeholder engagement], to inform planning and decision-making for STATE’s implementation of the Prevention provision of the Family First Prevention Services Act.
3.1-Candidacy-Deck-on-Analytical-Approaches-and-Visuals.pdf (chapinhall.org)
A presentation from Chapin Hall that focuses on candidacy considerations and provides examples on the candidacy selection process from other state FFPSA Part I prevention plan.
Dataquest - Accessing Educational Data (CA Department of Education)
Dataquest is a resource provided by the CA Department of Education that includes data reports on foster youth and school enrolled homeless children and youth.
Strategies for Defining Family First Candidacy Criteria | Evident Change
The SDM® safety and risk assessments are evidence-informed assessments designed for different purposes that help answer different questions in child welfare casework. These assessments may be helpful as elements of FFPSA candidacy criteria; however, the differences in these assessments should be clearly understood by everyone working to develop those criteria.
Policy-Responsibly-Defining-Candidacy-FINAL.pdf (cssp.org)
The following are guiding principles for states to consider as they work to identify a definition of candidacy that fits within the context of their state policies and prevention service array.
Guiding Questions
- These guiding questions are provided to assist in the development of the comprehensive prevention plan.
- What existing analyses are available to understand the target population(s), and what new analyses are needed to understand this population(s)?
- How many children, youth, parents, and families are part of the
- target population(s)?
- What is the service needs of the target population(s)?
- What information has been gleaned from asset mapping and needs assessments (or County Self-Assessment, if applicable) that can be used to identify children and youth at greatest risk of entry or re-entry into foster care?
- What data is needed to help identify potential candidate populations not currently involved in Child Welfare?
- What data from Child Welfare and Probation is needed to identify potential candidate populations?
- What is the capacity of cross-sector partners in providing services to the target population(s)?
- How will community and tribal voice being incorporated in the process of selecting target population(s)?