Title II — Community-based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

“(a) Purpose—The purposes of this title are—

“(1) to establish and maintain support for community-based family strengthening services and statewide systems-building approaches to the extent practicable, to ensure the development, operation, expansion, coordination, and evaluation of quality services, initiatives, programs, and activities to prevent child abuse and neglect; and

“(2) to promote improved access for diverse populations with demonstrated need, including low-income families, racial and ethnic minorities, families with children or caregivers with disabilities, underserved communities, and rural communities, to family strengthening services in order to more effectively prevent child abuse and neglect.

“(b) Authority—The Secretary shall make grants under this title on a formula basis to the entity designated by the State as the lead entity (referred to in this title as the “lead entity”) under section 202(1) for the following purposes:

“(1) Providing programs, activities, and initiatives to help families build protective factors linked to the prevention of child abuse and neglect, such as knowledge of parenting and child development, parental resilience, social connections, time-limited and need-based concrete support, and social and emotional development of children, that—

“(A) are accessible to diverse populations, effective, and culturally appropriate;

“(B) build upon existing strengths;

“(C) offer assistance to families;

“(D) provide early, comprehensive support for parents;

“(E) promote the development of healthy familial relationships and parenting skills, especially in young parents and parents with very young children;

“(F) increase family stability;

“(G) improve family access to formal and informal community-based resources, including health and mental health services, time-limited and need-based concrete supports, and services and supports to meet the needs of families with children or caregivers with disabilities; and

“(H) support the additional needs of families with children with disabilities, including through respite care.

“(2) Fostering the development of a continuum of preventive services to strengthen families through State- and community-based collaborations and both public and private partnerships.

“(3) Financing the start-up, maintenance, expansion, or redesign of core services described in section 205, where communities have identified gaps and decided to prioritize the establishment of such services, to the extent practicable given funding levels and community priorities.

“(4) Maximizing funding through leveraging Federal, State, local, public, and private funds to carry out the purposes of this title.

“(5) Developing or enhancing statewide and local networks to operate, expand, or enhance community-based family strengthening services, initiatives, and activities that promote child, parent, family, and community health and well-being and prevent child abuse and neglect.

“(6) Promoting the development of, and coordination with, existing community coalitions of networks of family strengthening services that utilize culturally responsive providers in order to enhance child, family, and community well-being and prevent child abuse and neglect in all families.

“(7) Financing public information activities that focus on parent and child development and child abuse and neglect prevention.

“(8) To the extent practicable—

“(A) promoting the development and implementation of a statewide systems-building strategy to address the unmet needs identified in the inventory described in section 204(3), including the participation of public and private stakeholders, community-based organizations, legislators, parents and other relevant stakeholders, and State agencies, including the child welfare agency, the public health agency, housing agency, and the State education agency, to scale evidence-based, evidence-informed, and promising programs that expand access to family strengthening services and reduce the numbers of children entering the foster care system;

“(B) developing comprehensive outreach strategies to engage families with various risk factors, including families who have experienced trauma or domestic violence, parents with substance use disorder, and families with children or caregivers with disabilities; and

“(C) providing capacity-building supports to local programs to improve desired outcomes for children and families, such as—

“(i) technical assistance, including support for local programs to collect outcome data that helps improve service delivery;

“(ii) professional development; and

“(iii) peer support networks, including through developing a problem-solving forum.”

“205. Local program requirements

“(a) In general—Grants from the lead entity made under this title shall be used to develop, implement, operate, expand, and enhance community-based family strengthening services designed to prevent child abuse and neglect that—

“(1) assess community assets and needs and develop a strategy to create a comprehensive continuum of effective services that strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect, through a planning process involving parents, local and public agencies, local nonprofit organizations and service providers, and private sector representatives in meaningful ways;

“(2) develop or enhance existing place-based family strengthening services, other parenting support services, and connections and coordination among key family services in the community by reaching spaces familiar to such families; and

“(3) help families build protective factors that support child and family well-being and help prevent child abuse and neglect, including knowledge of parenting and child development, parental resilience, social connections, time-limited and need-based concrete support, and social and emotional development of children.

“(b) Local consideration—In awarding grants, the lead entity shall consider, consistent with the needs of the State and community, how the grantee—

“(1) demonstrates the ability to form collaborations across a range of services or initiatives and the commitment to engage in long-term planning and strategic development for community-based family strengthening services as well as provide on-going problem solving support;

“(2) involves parents, including parents of children with disabilities, diverse racial and ethnic groups, and members of other underrepresented or underserved populations, in the development, implementation, oversight, and evaluation of services;

“(3) addresses the need for place-based services and the need to reach families in hard-to-reach areas through approaches that provide core family strengthening services;

“(4) promotes improved access to family strengthening services for diverse populations and ensures that the services address identified needs of all families; and

“(5) demonstrates an understanding of the sources of child and family trauma and the strategies that mitigate the impact of and prevent adverse childhood experiences.

“(c) Local uses of funds—Grant funds from the lead entity shall be used for community-based family strengthening services designed to prevent child abuse and neglect, which may include the following:

“(1) Developing a strategy based on supporting a comprehensive continuum of preventive, family-centered services that strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect, especially to young parents, to parents with young children, and to parents who are adult victims of domestic violence or child abuse or neglect, through public-private partnerships.

“(2) Addressing the needs of families in hard-to-reach areas by creating access to place-based family strengthening services.

“(3) Performing an assessment of community needs, including by partnering, at the option of the grantee, with an organization that already has performed a needs assessment (such as a Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program under section 511 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711) or a Head Start program under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.).

“(4) Supporting outreach for services, including by coordinating with existing family strengthening services such as home visiting and other early intervention programs.

“(5) Providing, promoting the development or enhancement of, or connecting families to, core services that include—

“(A) parenting support and parent education programs, including services that help parents and other caregivers support children’s development;

“(B) parent leadership skills development programs that support parents’ personal growth as leaders in their families and communities;

“(C) mutual support groups for parents, children, and parent partners;

“(D) respite and crisis care; and

“(E) referrals to optional community and social services, including—

“(i) domestic violence services;

“(ii) screening and referrals to early intervention;

“(iii) voluntary home visiting programs;

“(iv) health and mental health services, including referrals for information on the State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.);

“(v) early care and learning programs including child care and Head Start programs and Early Head Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.);

“(vi) nutrition programs, including the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children established under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) and the supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);

“(vii) education and workforce development programs, including adult literacy, child development, wellness, and family socioeconomic mobility programs; and

“(viii) services and supports to meet the needs of families with children or caregivers with disabilities, such as early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, as early intervention services are defined in section 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1432).

“(6) Providing leadership in mobilizing local public and private resources to support the provision of community-based family strengthening services designed to prevent child abuse and neglect.

“(7) Developing and maintaining meaningful partnerships with parents relating to the development, operation, evaluation, and oversight of the programs and services.

“(8) Coordinating with other community-based family strengthening services designed to prevent child abuse and neglect in the development, operation, and expansion of networks where appropriate.

“(d) Priority—When awarding grants, a lead entity shall give priority to effective community-based efforts that serve low-income communities and are focused on comprehensive approaches to serving young parents or parents with young children.”