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Tips and Tools for Social Workers - sharp pencil with jumbled letters behind it

Emerging Foster Care Policies and Programs

By April Ferguson LCSW-C Senior Practice Associate Children and Adolescents

June 2026

There were several national policies and initiatives implemented in the past year that impacted the child welfare system. A few important changes include new leadership in government agencies, the Trump Administration’s Executive Order (EO) on Foster Care, the Home for Every Child (HFEC) initiative, letters to states, and congressional actions.

Recently Appointed National Leaders

The Trump Administration nominated Alex J. Adams, PharmD, MPH as the Assistant Secretary for Family Support, leading the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was confirmed to the role in October 2025. Dr. Adams served in the Idaho State government and led initiatives to improve the child welfare system, including the extension of foster care to age 23. ACF is tasked with supporting youth and family wellbeing through the development of programs, grant distribution and federal guidance. The twenty-three offices within ACF collectively support the mission.

Ryan Hanlon, Ph.D., MSW was selected to serve as Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau (CB) within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) in January 2026. Dr. Hanlon has over 20 years of work experience and was the President and CEO of the National Council for Adoption (NCFA). The Children's Bureau is tasked with leading abuse and neglect prevention and managing programs that support the child welfare system.

A list of multiple ACF appointments is linked here.

Executive Orders

In November 2025, the Trump administration released an EO, Fostering the Future for American Children and Families. The five sections of the order highlight the administration’s plan to support foster youth. Section 1 describes historic issues faced by the foster care system including a burdened workforce and the struggles associated with aging out of care. In response to these challenges, sections 2 through 4 detail initiatives to improve the child welfare system. Section 2 proposes modernizing the child welfare system to improve service delivery. Strategies include the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, improved data collection and effective evaluation measures. Section 3 calls for the creation of the “Fostering the Future” initiative that supports the education and training opportunities for youth aging out of care and foster care alumni. The goals are to expand access to Education and Training Vouchers (ETV) and coordinate with government offices to develop scholarships for youth. Section 4 focuses on protections against religious based discrimination and encourages partnerships with faith-based institutions. Section 5 covers general provisions to implement directives and align with other government regulations and budgets.

To support EO directives and further ACF’s mission, new programs are being developed, alongside the issuance of guidance and letters to states.

Recent ACF and Federal Activities

A Home for Every Child (HFEC) is an ACF initiative that supports prevention, kinship prioritization, more foster placements and better performance evaluation methods. As of early June 2026, 25 states joined the initiative and the number continues to grow: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The program supports prevention efforts to keep children from being abused and neglected subsequently negating the need for child welfare involvement. Prevention includes strategies that strengthen families and increase protective factors to reduce the likelihood of harm. In circumstances where children need a placement, the initiative prioritizes placements with family. Securing kinship placements can be challenging depending on state regulations and processes to license kin providers. In 2023, a final federal rule permitted states to develop separate licensing standards for kinship placements. This rule reduced bureaucracy that hindered states ability to place children with kin. The HFEC program continues this commitment to make placement with kinship providers easier. When children cannot live with kin, they may be placed in foster care but there is a foster home shortage. Another primary component of this initiative is to increase the number of foster placements and obtain a 1:1 ratio of foster children to available foster homes.

Participation in the program also modifies states processes to measure performance in the Child & Family Services Reviews (CFSRs). This review process was developed for states to adhere to federal child welfare requirements, assess child welfare services, and strengthen families. States have struggled to comply with CFSR performance metrics, resulting in Program Improvement Plans (PIPs) for each state. ACF leadership has criticized the current CFSR and PIP process as cumbersome and questioned the effectiveness of the procedures in improving outcomes for families. Instead of continuing with the CFSR process as is, states can develop a new PIP pilot that aligns with the HFEC program. ACF leadership covered sample PIP measures and benefits of the PIP pilot program during an ACF Webinar.

In December 2025, ACF issued a letter urging 39 states to stop utilizing foster youth social security survivor benefits. When a parent dies and a child is placed in foster care, the state applies for the benefits and receives the funds to offset costs of providing care to foster children. Advocates argue that these benefits are for children and the funds should not be retained by the states and ACF leadership agrees. The goal of ending this practice is to allow youth to access their financial benefits to help them be successful. However, states are in compliance with federal law in retaining benefits and serving as a rep payee to meet the costs of providing food and shelter for foster youth. Some stakeholders raise concerns about the potential for fraud because the benefits may go to an adult payee whose behavior contributed to the child’s removal in the first place. State responses to the letter will vary, but some states have stopped the practice through legislative reform. Some legislative reforms require states to designate an appropriate rep payee, others save money for youth and include financial counseling, and others provide an accounting of the dollars used. Ultimately states will make decisions about how to proceed, but advocates are pushing for the use of the benefits in a way that best meets the child’s needs. To learn how each state manages benefits, view the Children’s Advocacy Institute state tracker.

In March 2026, ACF sent letters to all 50 states to warn against removal of children when parents do not agree with gender ideologies. The letters emphasize that declining to participate in gender ideology practices should not be considered child abuse in accordance with Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) definitions of abuse and neglect. The letter also identifies parents’ rights to practice their religious and moral convictions that recognize biological truth and this aligns with the administrations’ stances on gender ideology as expressed in the EO Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. It is difficult to determine how often these types of removals occur, nevertheless ACF will monitor state compliance with federal law and definitions of abuse and neglect.

According to ACFs active media outlets, ACF leadership is also convening ongoing listening sessions, and roundtable talks with many national child welfare leaders and organizations to address more child welfare challenges. Previous sessions included talks with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address the importance of stable housing. Sessions also covered the insurance liability crisis that contributes to provider shortages and sessions covered parents’ rights. ACF also released an issue brief that features modernization strategies with predictive analytics.

Recent congressional activity also supports the Fostering the Future for American Children and Families EO and congress introduced 6 bills to modernize the Chafee Foster Care Program. The program assists youth to transition to adulthood and age out of foster care. The proposed legislation provides housing support, expands ETV funding and its allowable uses, enhances access to services for expecting foster youth, improves access to legal services, and emphasizes the importance of lifelong connections. NASW signed a letter of support for these six bills.

Foster Youth Housing Opportunity Act (H.R. 7432) introduced by Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI).
Foster Youth Workforce Opportunity Act (H.R. 7343) introduced by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) and Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA).
Foster Youth Postsecondary Education Access and Success Act (H.R. 7463) introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX).
Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act (H.R. 7655) introduced by Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL).
Fresh Starts for Foster Youth Act (H.R. 7529) introduced by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL).
Chafee Opportunities for New Networks and Existing Connection Trust (CONNECT) Act (H.R. 7995) introduced by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH).

Social Work Considerations

Social work prioritizes prevention, family connections, and access to sufficient resources and the HFEC initiative reflects these values through prevention efforts, kinship support, and expanding the availability of foster homes. State legislative and policy changes centered on ACF guidance and programs will vary. Child welfare social workers will see states utilize Title IV-E funds to develop a variety of prevention strategies. Ideally states will implement effective and evidence-based prevention efforts that include substance use treatment, mental health services, and intimate partner violence (IPV) interventions to address the challenges that contribute to child welfare involvement. Child welfare social workers may also see their states amend how agencies license kinship providers and agencies may implement new foster care recruitment and reattainment strategies. States may also implement new performance measures and AI based technology solutions.

Foster youth may have new access to social security benefits depending on state legislative reforms and foster youth may also receive better services from the modernized Chafee Foster Care Program. If passed, the new bills will help young people access resources that support a more successful transition from the foster care system. These bills are bipartisan and child welfare social workers can engage in advocacy and support this legislation.

An area that still needs attention is placement shortages for children with severe behavioral and mental health needs. Often these children need specialized placements, such as congregate care and residential treatment. When none are available young people remain in emergency rooms, juvenile facilities, offices, and hotels. It is yet to be determined whether the HFEC initiative or another program will address placement shortages for children when a foster home is not suitable. Addressing placement shortages for high needs youth will require investment in appropriate placement facilities and mental health treatment.

Conclusion

ACF is providing strategies for system reform and process updates through its recent activities. ACF is also aligning with Trump EOs and eliminating red tape and federal government regulations that the agency identifies as not effective. Stakeholders and child welfare social workers will have to follow states’ responses to new policies and monitor the impact on the system and the families it serves. Social workers should continue professional development and advocacy initiatives that support ethical uses of technology as AI is rapidly changing many fields of practice. Social workers should continue to provide foster care services that align with ethical practice and professional responsibility to clients.