January 1, 2004

Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-being for Children in Foster Care: Executive Summary

The Commission undertook the first-ever, comprehensive assessment of two key aspects of the foster care system: a federal financing structure that encourages an over-reliance on placement of children in foster care at the expense of other more permanent options for children who have been abused or neglected, and a court system that lacks sufficient tools, information, and accountability necessary to move children swiftly out of foster care and into permanent homes. The Commission determined that reform in these two areas will have far-reaching effects for children in foster care and is a critical first step to solving many other problems that plague the child welfare system. Key financing recommendations include(1) Preserving federal foster care maintenance and adoption assistance as an entitlement and expanding it to all children; (2) Providing federal guardianship assistance to all children who leave foster care to live with a permanent legal guardian when a court has explicitly determined that neither reunification nor adoption are feasible permanence options; (3) Helping states build a range of services from prevention, to treatment, to post-permanence; (4) Encouraging innovation by expanding and simplifying the federal waiver process and providing incentives to states; and (5) Strengthening the current Child and Family Services Review process to increase states' accountability for improving outcomes for children.

Key court recommendations call for (1) Adoption of court performance measures by every dependency court to ensure that they can track and analyze their caseloads, increase accountability for improved outcomes for children, and inform decisions about the allocation of court resources; (2) Incentives and requirements for effective collaboration between courts and child welfare agencies; (3) A strong voice for children and parents in court and effective representation by better trained attorneys and volunteer advocates; and (4) Leadership from Chief Justices and other state court leaders. (Author abstract modified)