Resources

Although the Kids Are Waiting campaign has concluded its work, the materials on this Web site will be available through December 2009 to aid researchers, policy makers and advocates.

During 2007 and 2008, Pew’s Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now Campaign worked in partnership with other organizations to urge federal reform of the financing structure governing our nation’s foster care system. Our goal was to improve the tools and resources available to case workers, judges and others to ensure that children spend less time in foster care and have the safe, permanent families they need and deserve. With the help of thousands of individuals and organizations nationwide, the campaign successfully raised awareness about the need for reform through research, outreach, and advocacy. These efforts contributed greatly to creating momentum for Congressional action in 2008.

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, passed unanimously by the House and Senate and signed into law in October 2008, is landmark legislation that makes critical fixes to the nation’s foster care system and promotes a brighter future for children, youth and families affected by foster care. This new law capped the efforts of the Campaign and incorporated many of the recommendations of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care. As of December 2008, most of the financing recommendations issued by the non-partisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care in 2004 have been enacted, and all of the court reforms are well underway in states throughout the nation.

We hope policy makers will continue to prioritize the needs of abused and neglected children by crafting a comprehensive reform plan for improving child welfare financing. There is strong consensus among the child welfare community that federal policy should support and allow investments in services and supports outside the foster care system that could strengthen families and keep children safe without having to enter foster care in the first place. Under current law, the majority of funds available to help children who have been abused or neglected ($7.2 billion dollars or 90% percent) can only be used to sustain children in foster care placements (i.e., room and board, and overhead costs.) If those resources were more flexible, case workers and judges would better be able to meet the individual needs of children and families by tailoring services and supports to the situation at hand. By also providing services to children in families not officially in foster care, families can be strengthened and thereby preventing the need to enter foster care for some, and preventing a return to foster care for others. The Pew Commission recommended one solution. Other proposals to address the need for stronger prevention have also been advanced. Many believe that the 111th Congress will have the political will to take up this important reform.