Family First Transition and Support Act of 2019
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Family First Transition and Support Act of 2019
This bill eliminates income-based limitations on a child's eligibility for federal foster care support and makes other changes to funding for, and administration of, grants and programs for child welfare in states and tribes.
The bill increases funding for activities including (1) training of child welfare workers, foster parents, and those working in the court system; (2) research on evidence-based practices to prevent child abuse and neglect; and (3) regional partnerships between child welfare agencies and others to address a parent's, or other caregiver's, substance use disorder.
The bill's changes to the administration of child welfare programs include, for example, delaying until FY2027 a requirement for states to expend a minimum percentage of funding for child abuse prevention services on only those services that meet certain criteria for effectiveness. In addition, the bill expands the scope of certain grants to include kinship placement services and allows the use of federal funds to address issues that may put a child at risk of entering foster care, such as by providing assistance with housing and utility payments.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 8, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 8, 2019: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced it on May 8, 2019, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 5 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 8, 2019, 2682 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2682 days ago, on May 8, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers