Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-being for Children in Foster Care: Executive Summary

January 1, 2004 The Commission undertook the first-ever, comprehensive assessment of two key aspects of the foster care system: a federal financing structure that encourages an over-reliance on placement of children in foster care at the expense of other more permanent options for children who have been abused or neglected, and a court system that lacks sufficient tools, information, and accountability necessary to move children swiftly out of foster care and into permanent homes. The Commission determined that reform in these two areas will have far-reaching effects for children in foster care and is a critical first . . .