Overused Option
The child welfare system puts 1 in 7 children in a group setting, yet 40% of these children have no documented need to be placed outside of a family.
This KIDS COUNT policy report underscores a simple fact about childhood: Family matters. Yet, today in America, 57,000 children are still living in group placements. Readers will learn about limiting the role of residential treatment care to its intended purpose and how state and local leaders can work together to enhance family-oriented services and supports. The end goal? Brighter futures — and loving families — for some of our country’s most vulnerable children.
Group settings are extremely expensive for taxpayers and can cost up to 10 times more than placing a child with family.
The child welfare system puts 1 in 7 children in a group setting, yet 40% of these children have no documented need to be placed outside of a family.
In Colorado, a whopping 35% of kids in the child welfare system’s care live a non-family placement. In Oregon? Just 4%.
Many teens enter the child welfare system not because of abuse or neglect, but because they have developed behavioral challenges that their parents or guardians are unprepared to handle.
Nearly 57,000 young people in America’s child welfare system are not living with a family
Nearly 1/3 of children who have been placed in group care are younger than 13.
Kids need a parental figure to support them throughout all stages of their physical, mental and social development. This single factor — the presence of at least one committed parental figure — can yield powerful benefits that ripple throughout a child’s life.
