There is no substitute for family. Progress has been made over recent years in reducing the number of children placed in foster care, increasing the number of children placed with kin, and decreasing the number of children in group placement. However, the amount of time children spend separated from their families remains stubbornly high and has dire consequences for child well-being. The ramifications of time away from family are multifaceted and enduring, undermining the achievement of permanency and exacerbating the negative impacts of separation-induced trauma on the cognitive and emotional well-being of children.
Economic and concrete support, treatment services and parenting support, and other community-based interventions are effective approaches to preventing child welfare system involvement. But when families do become engaged with the child welfare system due to safety risks, it is critical to ensure they are minimally impacted by family separation. Once separated from their parents, children too often face unnecessary delays in returning home, and a growing body of research demonstrates the harm this inflicts on their growth and development. The struggle to achieve a timely return to family is a function of multiple challenges, including inadequate access to services for families, a lack of urgency among child protection agencies and family courts, and failure to connect children with extended family while in foster care.
Current Practice and Policy
Well-functioning child protection agencies must effectively engage in prevention strategies while relentlessly pursuing permanency for all children in foster care. While the number of children in foster care is steadily decreasing, the experience of children separated from their families remains a concern. Of the almost 350,000 children in foster care in 2022, nearly one-third had been in care for two years or longer. For Black and American Indian/Alaska Native children, the percentages were even higher, at 39% and 35% respectively. To a child, a few months or more away from family and community can feel like a lifetime, spanning key developmental stages that become compromised.
Since 1980, federal law has called for states to make reasonable efforts to safely prevent removal or reunify children with their parents. Reasonable efforts include services designed to help parents address the conditions that led to removal in the first place. The amount of services parents receive can impact timely reunification. The Indian Child Welfare Act’s higher standard of active, affirming, thorough, and timely efforts to keep families safely together or safely reunify separated families should be applied by all child welfare systems. In addition, the focus on legal permanency — defined as reunification, adoption, or guardianship — can obscure the importance of prioritizing relational permanency, defined as a strong connection to supportive adults.
Time with Family Is Critical For Child Well-being
Research demonstrates the interrelationship between time with family and a wide range of developmental, mental health, physical health, and economic outcomes.