(1) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Maintaining a family structure to the greatest degree possible is one of the fundamental goals that all state agencies must observe, and the state's intervention in family dynamics should not exceed that which is necessary to rectify the cause for intervention;

(b) Out-of-home placement is often the most expensive and disruptive method of providing services to troubled families;

(c) It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract foster parents for the number of children placed out of the home;

(d) The principle of appropriate state intervention is a cornerstone of family preservation services. Such services, when properly targeted and administered, provide states with an opportunity to initiate the systemic reform of children, youth, and families public services by providing services that are family-focused, outcome-driven, and cost-efficient.

(e) Family preservation programs implemented in other states, such as the "homebuilder's" model in the state of Washington, have resulted in improved family-functioning rates. Placement prevention rates of up to eighty-eight percent have been reported in some of the thirty-one states that have initiated some form of a family preservation program.

(f) A statewide family preservation program may be financed to provide intensive services for families where a child is at risk of an out-of-home placement based on criteria established by the state board of human services and to provide phased-in services aimed at reunifying families where a child has been placed out of the home, where appropriate, by tapping into other available federal funds or through moneys realized from cost avoidance in prevention of placement;

(g) On the basis of the foregoing, it is appropriate to enact the provisions of this article providing for the implementation of a statewide family preservation program that provides for immediate intensive services for at-risk families and phased-in services aimed at reunifying families, where appropriate, when the targeted families for intensive or reunification services have been served.

(2) It is the general assembly's intent that the implementation and financing of the statewide family preservation program be consistent with applicable federal mandates, including any federal financial participation requirements, and that the implementation of the program not place this state at risk of losing federal funds received by the state for children, youth, and families services prior to the enactment of this article.