Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Family First topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ODHS updates committee on Family First Title IV‑E prevention plan and expansion
Summary
ODHS described Oregon’s Title IV‑E prevention plan, noting the state’s approved extension, a $7 million state match in 2025, 17 counties offering evidence‑based practices, and plans to expand claiming capacity and begin outcome evaluation in 2026.
Mary Gillen, Family First program manager at ODHS, briefed the committee on the Family First Prevention Services Act and Oregon’s Title IV‑E prevention plan. She said Family First creates a federal funding stream for prevention services that are evidence based and intended to keep children safely at home by addressing parental behavioral health, substance use and parenting needs.
Gillen explained Title IV‑E prevention is an uncapped entitlement stream that reimburses eligible prevention services and that Oregon approved a plan (extension) and secured a $7 million state match in 2025 to leverage federal funds. She said the state has directed federal transition grants toward scaling services and that one or more approved evidence‑based practices are now available in 17 counties, serving more than 2,200 children and families so far, with kinship navigator calls exceeding 8,000.
The presenters listed evidence‑based models in the plan (Parents as Teachers, Functional Family Therapy, Parent‑Child Interaction Therapy and motivational interviewing) and described implementation steps the agency has taken, including interagency agreements, training, purveyor contracts and data mapping for federal reporting. Gillen said the state submitted a new five‑year Title IV‑E prevention plan in December and expects federal review and negotiation, aiming for final approval by June and continued rollout with an evaluation beginning in 2026.
Committee members asked about program duration, exit/graduation metrics and the sustainability of federal matching; Gillen said services are generally limited to 12 months for Title IV‑E prevention but program models vary and that the state will track start/end dates and outcomes through its evaluation plan.
ODHS asked the committee for continued partnership to maximize federal claiming and to support the infrastructure needed to expand prevention services across the state.
