All 50 states have joined ‘Home for Every Child’ initiative, a data-driven plan to improve foster-care ratios
All 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, have joined a new federal child welfare initiative that shifts oversight toward measurable outcomes and uses data to track progress in recruiting foster families.
The Administration for Children and Families announced Thursday that every state has signed on to “A Home for Every Child.” The initiative, which stems from President Donald Trump’s executive order on foster care last November, replaces traditional compliance-focused improvement plans with a single performance metric: the ratio of licensed foster homes to children in foster care.
There are currently 57 licensed foster homes for every 100 children in foster care, nationwide, according to the ACF.
To improve that ratio, state and local child welfare agencies are encouraged through the initiative to replace aging case management platforms with cloud technologies that support better data analytics and reduce administrative burdens on caseworkers.
“We knew states were ready for a new approach — but the response has exceeded every expectation,” ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams said in a press release. “Fifty states joining this initiative sends a powerful message: America is ready to rally around children in foster care and the families who step forward for them.”
The milestone adds more information to the interactive map the administration launched in April, aimed at helping states move faster on child welfare prevention and possibly learn from each other in the process. The map shows whether a state’s plan is approved, under review or not yet submitted, and highlights which evidence-based services from the federal clearinghouse are included.
By tracking progress on improving the foster care ratio, Adams told StateScoop earlier this year, the initiative could hold states more accountable and reduce the number of children placed in temporary settings, such as offices, hotels or other emergency placements. But, he said, there is no “one-size-fits-all solution” across states. “We’re entrusting states to chart their own path,” Adams said in March. “Some states might focus on retention, others so might focus a little bit more on prevention and permanence. What Tennessee might focus on might be a little bit different than Oklahoma.”
This fall, the administration is launching the “A Home for Every Child Innovation Challenge,” a competition running from October 2026 through September 2027 that will award $7 million to states achieving the largest or most improved foster home-to-child ratios. During the challenge, ACF will also publish monthly state-by-state data through a public scorecard to help states benchmark progress, identify successful recruitment strategies and increase transparency into foster care capacity.
