Executive Summary

1. What Results Do You Want?   

The opportunity to grow up in a safe, nurturing, and permanent family is critical to achieving positive outcomes for children.  For children in foster care, the goal is a timely exit to permanence through family reunification, guardianship, or adoption.  See more information on priorities and indicators in these areas.   

2. How Are Your Kids?   

Timeliness of reunification, adoption, or guardianship is a critical measure for children in foster care to avoid the poor outcomes associated with staying in foster care too long and leaving foster care with no permanent home. See more information on:   

• Reunification state data, root causes, projections, and targets
• Adoptions state data, root causes, projections, and targets.
• Guardianship root causes, projections, and targets.   

3.  What Can Policymakers Do? 

     Strategies

       Reunification

• Increase timely access to substance abuse treatment
• Expand Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) for reunification
• Reduce court delays
• Require family involvement in decision-making .

              Adoption  

•  Ensure adequate subsidy payments
• Establish a commission to identify adoption barriers
• Provide for continuous court jurisdiction
• Examine timeframes for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)
• Establish state adoption tax credits  
• Fund post-adoption supports and services   

      Guardianship

• Set adequate subsidy and benefit levels
•  Ensure that cost savings can be retained for child welfare purposes
• Require child welfare agencies to fully inform caregivers about guardianship
• Require data-driven reports to the legislature  

      Success Stories

• Illinois Subsidized Guardianship Waiver Demonstration 
• The Maryland Opportunity Compact    

4.  How Can You Ensure Success?   

Prior to enactment, policymakers can anticipate implementation issues and include provisions to enhance chances for success such as broad based input, frontline practice, provider needs, ongoing evaluation and fiscal accountability. After enactment, policymakers have sophisticated federal and state data available to them to provide leadership and oversight for better child welfare outcomes.  See more guidance on implementation and accountability.

5. How Can You Sustain Success?

Guidance on Financing and Investing in Results.