Our first concern is the safety of all children.
In cases where there is extreme or egregious abuse, children should be removed from their homes. In other cases, removal is not always the right answer and more should be done to help the family and repair the problems. It is simply unacceptable for a child to grow up in foster care.
Several studies show that children who have been abused may be better off staying in their homes with services provided to help their families instead of entering the foster care system. Studies by two highly respected institutions-the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Casey Family Program show: Children who grew up in foster care are 17 times more likely to be homeless. It is estimated that one-third of the children in the Juvenile Justice system are former foster children.
Children who remain with family
Children in foster care
Arrested at least once
14%
44%
Became a teen mother
33%
56%
Held a job at least 3 mos.
33%
20%
The Department of Children and Families and Family Support Services is working with the community, employees and consultants to redesign the foster care system. Our goal is to eliminate foster care as we know it and reduce the number of children in care by 50 percent by 2012. We will keep you updated on our progress.