42 U.S.C. § 629a — Definitions

(a) In general. This subsection defines terms used in this subpart. (1) “Family preservation services” means services for children, youth, and families, including kinship and adoptive families, that are designed to help families at risk or in crisis. They include the following: (A) Programs designed to help children (i) return, when it is safe and appropriate, to the families from which they were removed; or (ii) be placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or, if adoption or legal guardianship is determined not to be safe and appropriate for the child, in another planned, permanent living arrangement. (B) Preventive services before placement, such as intensive family-preservation programs, designed to help children at risk of foster-care placement remain safely with their families. (C) Programs providing follow-up care to families after a child has returned from foster care. (D) Respite care for children that gives temporary relief to parents, kinship caregivers, and foster parents. (E) Services designed to improve parenting skills. These services reinforce parents’ confidence in their strengths, help them identify where improvement is needed, and help them obtain assistance to improve those skills. The skills may concern matters such as child development, family budgeting, coping with stress, health, and nutrition. (F) Infant safe-haven programs that give a parent a way to safely relinquish a newborn infant at a safe haven designated under State law. (G)(i) Peer-to-peer mentoring and support programs with demonstrated experience fostering constructive relationships between children and families and mentors who have relevant lived experience or interactions with the child welfare system. (ii) For this subpart, spending for a service described in clause (i) may be treated as spending for one or more of the following: family support services, family preservation services, family reunification services, or adoption promotion and support services. This is allowed only when the spending relates to serving the children and families in the specified category and is consistent with that category’s overall purpose. (H)(i) Services providing nonrecurring, short-term benefits, including help related to unstable housing, utilities, transportation, food assistance, and other basic needs. These services must address immediate needs related to a specific crisis, situation, or event affecting the child’s ability to remain in a home established for the child, and must not be intended to meet an ongoing need. (ii) For this subpart, spending for a service described in clause (i) may be treated as spending for one or more of the following: family support services, family preservation services, family reunification services, or adoption promotion and support services. This is allowed only when the spending relates to serving the children and families in the specified category and is consistent with that category’s overall purpose. (2) “Family support services.” (A) In general. “Family support services” means community-based services, including services provided by family resource centers, designed to carry out the purposes in subparagraph (B). (B) Purposes described. Those purposes are: (i) promoting the safety and well-being of children, youth, and families; (ii) increasing the strength and stability of families, including adoptive, foster, and kinship families; (iii) supporting and retaining foster families so they can provide quality family-based settings for children in foster care; (iv) increasing parents’ confidence and competence in their parenting abilities; (v) providing children with a safe, stable, and supportive family environment; (vi) strengthening parental relationships and promoting healthy marriages; and (vii) enhancing child development, including through mentoring. (3) “State agency” means the State agency responsible for administering the program under subpart 1. (4) “State” includes an Indian tribe or tribal organization, in addition to the meaning given “State” for purposes of subpart 1. (5) “Indian tribe” has the meaning given that term in section 628(d) of this title. This section does not define that term. (6) “Tribal organization” has the meaning given that term in section 628(d) of this title. This section does not define that term. (7) “Family reunification services.” (A) In general. “Family reunification services” means the services and activities described in subparagraph (B) that are provided to a child who was removed from the child’s home and placed with kinship caregivers, in a foster family home, or in a child-care institution, or to a child who has been returned home, and to that child’s parents or primary caregiver. The purpose is to help reunite the child safely and appropriately within a timely period and to make sure the reunification is strong and stable. For a child who has been returned home, the services and activities may be provided only during the 15-month period beginning on the date the child returns home. (B) Services and activities described. These services and activities are: (i) individual, group, and family counseling; (ii) inpatient, residential, or outpatient substance-abuse treatment services; (iii) mental-health services; (iv) help addressing domestic violence; (v) services providing temporary child care and therapeutic services for families, including crisis nurseries; (vi) peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups for parents and primary caregivers; (vii) services and activities designed to help parents and siblings gain access to and visit children; and (viii) transportation to or from any of these services and activities. (8) “Adoption promotion and support services” means services and activities designed to encourage more adoptions from the foster-care system when adoption promotes children’s best interests. They include activities such as services and activities before and after adoption that are designed to speed up the adoption process and support adoptive families. (9) “Non-Federal funds” means State funds or, at a State’s option, State and local funds. (10) “Family resource center.” (A) In general. “Family resource center” means a community- or school-based hub of support services for families that (i) uses a multigenerational, strengths-based, and family-centered approach; (ii) reflects and responds to community needs and interests; (iii) provides support to participants at no or low cost; and (iv) builds communities of peer support for families, including kinship families, so they can develop social connections that reduce isolation and stress. (B) Special rule. For this subpart, spending for a service provided by a family resource center may be treated as spending for one or more of the following: family support services, family preservation services, family reunification services, or adoption promotion and support services. This is allowed only when the spending relates to serving the children and families in the specified category and is consistent with that category’s overall purpose. (11) “Youth” means an individual who has not reached 26 years of age. (12) “Mentoring” means a structured, managed program in which children are appropriately matched with screened and trained adult volunteers for one-on-one relationships. The relationships include regular meetings and activities and are intended, in part, to meet the child’s need for involvement with a caring and supportive adult who provides a positive role model. (b) Other terms. For definitions of other terms used in this subpart, see section 675 of this title. (c) Use of technology. (1) Use of portal. The services referred to in subsection (a) may include access to and use of an electronic or digital portal to help provide community support to care for families and children and meet their specific needs. (2) Limitation. The portal may not retain or share personally identifiable information about a beneficiary without the beneficiary’s consent or for any purpose other than referral.