1 Table of contents 14

The FLC: Reimagining What’s Possible for Families

2026		1
The Fiscal Leadership Circle:		1
How Fiscal Leaders Are Reimagining What’s Possible for Families		1
The Fiscal Leadership Circle:		2
How Fiscal Leaders Are Reimagining What’s Possible for Families		2
D.L. Moffitt and Deszeree Thomas		2
2026		2
Acknowledgements		3
Purpose of this Publication		4
How We Developed These Insights		5
What do we mean by “prevention?”		5
Why Fiscal Leadership Matters Now		6
Across the country, promising efforts—including supportive housing, flexible (drop cash) economic assistance, and early family support—are demonstrating the potential to help families remain safely together. Yet underfunding can keep these efforts episodic and small in scale. States are also moving in a tighter fiscal climate as federal priorities change, pandemic relief dollars fade, and budgets become more constrained. Risk aversion, fear of disallowance, siloed systems, and mistrust can also slow investment in prevention.		6
While places across the nation are increasingly interested in investments that support family safety and well-being without the use of investigation and foster care, the majority of funding still flows to these ‘downstream’ interventions, with only 15% of U.S. child welfare spending supporting preventive services.		6
Family First Prevention Services Act implementation has been slower than anticipated. Constraints such as strict definitions, evidence-based program requirements, eligibility restrictions, and complex administrative and infrastructure demands maintain a child welfare orientation toward placement.		6
The Fiscal Leadership Circle: Model and Reach		7
FLC cultivates a prevention-first fiscal mindset. Fellows deepen:		7
The aim is not simply better budgeting, but systemic realignment toward community-based, voluntary support.		7
Early Results and Indicators		8
Short-Term Outcomes		8
Intermediate Indicators		9
Five projects demonstrated potential to unlock approximately $125.77 million in prevention-oriented resources over time.		9
These early fiscal projects offer tangible examples of how strategic resource allocation can advance prevention in child welfare through:		9
​​Unlocking federal dollars for prevention		9
The District of Columbia developed a cross-agency governance model unlocking $12M in Title IV-E reimbursement through alignment of claiming, invoicing, and service delivery.		9
South Carolina implemented an emerging dual administrative claiming model generating $5.2M in federal reimbursement that continues to grow.		9
Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County positioned to access $10.2M in additional federal reimbursement through evidence-based prevention expansion and automated planning.		9
Financing concrete supports to address housing instability		9
Wisconsin’s Family Keys invested flexible funds in housing supports, generating $370,000 in avoided foster care costs and supporting faster reunification.		9
Building regional prevention infrastructure		9
California’s Family Resource Center Network developed a model to expand Family Resource Center capacity across 165 providers, with the potential to unlock $98M in federal reimbursement.		9
Fellows’ projects demonstrate how strategic fiscal approaches can expand prevention capacity— offering evidence-based services, supporting navigation and case planning infrastructure, enabling voluntary engagement and support through community pathways, and reducing administrative barriers. These projects will be documented in the upcoming Prevention Financing Briefs, offering insights for other jurisdictions to adopt and adapt.		9
Five Habits of Successful Fiscal Innovators		10
Habit 1: Lead With a Vision of Family Prosperity and Safety		10
Habit 2: Embrace Technical and Adaptive Challenges		10
Fiscal innovation requires navigating:		10
Habit 3: Measure What Matters for Families		11
Habit 4: Tell Strategic Stories		11
Habit 5: Build Prevention as a Relational Ecosystem		12
An Invitation to Lead Differently: Making Prevention the Norm		13
Our inaugural fiscal leaders cohort demonstrates that skilled fiscal leadership can unlock new possibilities for children and families. When leaders combine technical expertise with adaptive leadership to form strong partnerships, budgets promote family stability and prosperity in new ways.		13

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