One responder to our survey on reimagining child welfare recommended more emphasis on keeping children in their communities, while another said the priority is stronger measures to protect them.
These perspectives aren’t incompatible. Counties can make diligent efforts to keep children in communities and with kin, and still prioritize child safety when making placement decisions.
Achieving this balance is complicated by inconsistent standards and troublesome outcomes. Our tracking system shows that 11 of 38 child murders since 2018 — nearly 30% — were committed by foster or adoptive parents, or in situations arranged by biological parents — interestingly, mostly in white families. This suggests counties are placing children in unsafe settings directly and providing inadequate oversight of informal placements, perhaps especially in majority communities.
Ensuring child safety while simultaneously promoting community connections and kinship care is an important goal, but will require statewide standards and improved county performance.