Child Welfare

Child Welfare2021-05-10T11:44:50-05:00

The Problem

Children involved in the child welfare system are disproportionately poor youth of color, and face multiple adverse experiences. Our child welfare system, while making progress, still removes too many children, places too many children in institutional settings, under-invests in family and kinship placements, and saddles too many parents with long-term barriers to employment that ultimately undermine family supports.  Long-term outcomes for children in foster care reveal that we face system failures that hinder our ability to prevent youth homelessness, improve educational attainment, keep youth out of the justice system.  We must continue to reorient our work to build communities that wrap-around young people to support their healthy development and growth.

Our Vision

We envision a child welfare system that supports youth and families, prioritizes family integrity, promotes stability and permanency, and meets the social, educational, and health needs of children.

The Solution

We work in collaboration with other child advocates at the state and local level to:

  • advance reforms that keep children safe, strengthen the connections between children and their families, and improve children’s well-being
  • monitor the experience of children in the child welfare system to promote transparency and accountability; and
  • ensure that the child welfare system is adequately resourced and advances our shared goals for children’s long-term success.

Our objective is to achieve change through state and local law and policy, sustainable investments in what works, and being part of a national conversation about child welfare.

Jump to a Policy:

Julia L. Davis, Esq
Julia L. Davis, EsqDirector of Youth Justice and Child Welfare
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