Fortifying Family First: Effectively Balancing Congregate Care in the Child Welfare Continuum
Youth Congregate Care and Its Challenges
Congregate care is an umbrella term for a variety of out-of-home group residential settings. For children in foster care, congregate care can be a useful tool to stabilize behavioral or mental health challenges before returning to a family-based setting. While it can be beneficial for high-acuity youth, research shows these placements have several negative outcomes. Children in these settings often experience longer stays in the foster system, heightened risks of physical abuse, mental health struggles and poorer educational outcomes.
Seven years after FFPSA’s enactment, achieving a resilient, family-first child welfare system remains complex. A&M can support state child welfare systems in navigating this complexity, by finding ways to support strategic placements that meet the needs of each child in the system, while also shaping congregate care placements to remain a targeted (but not disproportionate) part of the child welfare continuum.
How Can A&M Help States Address This Issue?
A&M can work with states to assess barriers to prioritizing family-based placement and promote the effective used of congregate care stays. From uncovering hidden incentives in payments systems that don’t align with policy goals to better supporting care and empowering youth in the least restrictive settings, A&M supports state child welfare systems with practical solutions that leverage all available federal funding to meet the needs of children in the State.
