the report finds that nationwide care systems placed 86 percent of these children in families in 2017, compared with 81 percent in 2007
In the last decade, Maine’s rate of placements in families increased 14 percentage points, up from 80 percent in 2007
For teenagers, progress in family placements has been elusive. Nationwide, more than a third of young people in child welfare systems who are 13 and older lived in group placements in 2017 ― the same proportion as 10 years ago.
A breakdown by race shows that progress is highly uneven. Systems increased the placement rate of white youth in family homes from 81 percent to 87 percent, but outcomes for Latino and African-American children improved by just 3 percent, and by just 1 percentage point for Asian-American children.
The Maine Children’s Alliance joins the Casey Foundation in calling on child welfare systems to use the opportunities afforded by Family First to increase available services to stabilize families
Prioritize recruitment of kin and foster families for older youth and youth of color in recruitment planning;
Engage families in decision making, since kin and foster parents should be treated as important members of a child’s team;
