Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America's Children
This Executive Order, Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America's Children (Executive Order 13930, June 24, 2020), directs federal agencies—primarily the Department of Health and Human Services—to take steps aimed at preventing unnecessary foster care placement, improving the permanency outcomes for children in care, and expanding supports for families, caregivers, and youth involved with the child welfare system. It emphasizes greater collaboration with private, faith-based, and community organizations; expanded data collection and transparency; enhanced training and resources for guardians and kinship caregivers; and stronger adherence to timely permanency and safety requirements. While it sets numerous deadlines and guidance requirements, it does not by itself create new funding but relies on agency actions and available appropriations. Overall, the order seeks to reduce the number of children entering foster care, speed up permanent family placements for those who do enter care, keep siblings together when possible, and improve the experiences and outcomes for children, youth aging out of care, and their caregivers through better data, partnerships, and resources.
Key Points
- 1Strengthen partnerships between State child welfare agencies and non-governmental organizations, including faith-based and community groups; require more public data sharing and collaboration to recruit and support foster and adoptive families, while ensuring privacy and compliance with law.
- 2Expand data collection and reporting, with annual reports on foster care entry, current counts, and adoption wait lists; specifically track sibling connections, foster home capacity, and foster parent retention; collect metrics on permanency needs and time to certification.
- 3Improve access to resources for caregivers and youth, including expanding trauma-informed training for practitioners, increasing information about guardianship options and funding, and addressing barriers to accessing benefits for kinship care and youth transitioning out of care.
- 4Promote equal treatment and diverse recruitment of foster and adoptive families under the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA), including studying nationwide implementation, updating guidance, and providing guidance on the rights of parents, prospective parents, and children with disabilities.
- 5Reform processes to prevent unnecessary removal and secure timely permanency, including requiring federal reviews to assess reasonable efforts to prevent removal and timelines for permanency efforts; develop risk and safety assessment standards; and provide guidance on using federal funds to support high-quality legal representation for parents and children.