Child Welfare
Fast Fact
In 2009, 423,773 children were living in out-of-home care due to child abuse or neglect.
In 2010 there were more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, including 61,000 who are in a group home or institution. While the past two decades have brought improvements to the child welfare system, most recently with the passage of the 2008 Fostering Connections Act, there are still thousands of children in need of a safe and stable home.
Child welfare involvement has serious consequences on life outcomes for these children and youth. They are also more likely to be witnesses or victims of violence, less likely to graduate high school, and more easily prescribed psychotropic drugs than be provided the mental health therapy they need. Compounded by an uncoordinated service delivery system and governments that simply do not have the economic wherewithall to support them, their outcomes are bleak. In too few cases does the outcome of a safe, stable permanent home get realized. And while nationally the number of children in the system are declining more children are staying in the system until they age out.
Through the work of our fellows, we are interested in helping to address these and other challenges facing children and youth in the child welfare system. One solution lies in preventing children from entering out-of-home care. But for those children whose homes are not safe, we believe it is essential to bridge the boundaries between the child welfare system, education system, and physical and mental health providers to help these vulnerable children get the services they need. There are many other possible solutions, and we welcome your ideas.
Challenges |
Solutions |
Prevent Out-of-Home Placement
Preventing child maltreatment and the subsequent entrance into the child welfare system and removal from home is critical to improving the life outcomes of vulnerable children. Building the capacity of families and communities to overcome the challenges of poverty, inadequate workforce development opportunities, inferior health and mental health services are critical to avoiding the situations that lead to child welfare involvement and preventing the destabilizing impact of taking a child away from his/her home. Some of our fellows have contributed to the City of Philadelphia's efforts to prevent out-of-home placement.
Improve Well-being of Children in the System
The education, health and behavioral health well-being of children infoster care are our primary interests. Research consistently points to the fact that children who have experienced time in the child welfare system are more likely to have behavioral health problems and fail in school. Although the recent Fostering Connections legislation has made these well-being indicators a national priority, legislation alone is not enough to solve the challenge. Our fellows are contributing to the ongoing efforts of the child welfare community to see that these children have better life outcomes.
Support Safe and Stable Families
A safe and stable home is the goal for all children who enter the child welfare system. When they cannot remain with a birth parent, these children live in a variety of settings. For some of them, returning to their birth family that has been made safe and stabilized is the outcome. For others, adoption by foster parents or other adults provides the lifelong family connection that child welfare systems are trying to provide. Our fellows contribute to this goal through research, policy change and practice improvement.