Highlights

New State-by-State Findings on Foster Parenting Measures from the Child and Family Services Reviews

See this new brief to learn more about how states are doing on foster parenting practices identified by CHAMPS as being key to promoting better outcomes for children and youth in foster care.

New Federal Policy Recommendations from CHAMPS

See here for the campaign’s FOUR winning policy solutions for promoting better and more equitable outcomes for children and youth in foster care by strengthening foster parent recruitment, retention and support.

New Research and Policy Brief on Effective Family-Based Foster Care Policies

This four page brief provides the latest research on the benefits of family-based foster care over group care and highlights four winning policy approaches to help states recruit, support and retain kin and non-kin foster families.

Visit our New Searchable State Policy Database

Explore our new searchable database to learn about state policies to strengthen foster parenting. Policies include those from the CHAMPS playbook, states’ diligent recruitment plans and other resources.

Analysis of State 2020-2024 Foster & Adoptive Parent Diligent Recruitment Plan

The report highlights innovative examples of foster parent recruitment and retention strategies from around the country and can be an excellent resource to child welfare agencies looking to strengthen their state and local strategies.

Letter from Foster and Kinship Families to Congress re COVID Pandemic

Nearly forty state-based organizations of foster and kinship families write to Congress to highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foster and kin families and the children they are caring for.

Peer Support: A Game Changer for Parents and Children

In this brief, CHAMPS highlights the game-changing benefits of peers support to families, children and agencies. It describes different approaches to peer support and showcases several examples from the field.

Pandemic EBT Program: What Foster Families Should Know

The P-EBT was passed by Congress to provide temporary food resources for all families with children who receive free or reduced lunch. Children and youth in foster care are categorically eligible for free lunches. Learn more about this benefit in your state.

CHAMPS Point of View on the Family First Transition Act

In December 2019, Congress enacted the Family First Transition Act, which provides $500 million in federal funds to help child welfare agencies implement the Family First Act. This new CHAMPS brief urges agencies to devote at least 50 percent of the transition grant funds in support of strengthening family-based care.

Some Welcome Federal Input on Foster Home Recruitment and Family Visitation

See this op-ed by CHAMPS for commentary on the Children’s Bureau’s Information Memoranda on improving the quality of foster parenting through better use of data and improved policies on family time.

CHAMPS Guide on Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention

This new guide can assist child welfare agencies in planning and implementing best practices in foster parent recruitment, development and support. It features six key drivers for driving better results and offers specific strategies for achieving and sustaining excellence in foster parenting.

Foster Parents from Around the Country Speak Out

This video features foster parents from across the country sharing their insights about how the CHAMPS policy goals can strengthen and support foster parenting.

New Federal Policy on Foster Family Home Licensing

On February 4, 2019, the U.S. Children’s Bureau issued its final policy creating a new National Model for Family Foster Home Licensing Standards. State and Tribal child welfare agencies must align their licensing standards with the new National Model.

Newly Released Second Edition Playbook CHAMPS

The CHAMPS policy playbook is grounded in research and draws on best practice examples, such as those generated by the Quality Parenting Initiative. The playbook offers recommended policy approaches as well as examples of existing policies. We hope policy makers use the playbook as a resource to strengthen foster parenting policies and programs. Click below to visit our online policy playbook.

CHAMPS Policy Priorities

The CHAMPS policy playbook features six policy goals: (1) Support relationships between birth and foster families, (2) Implement data-driven recruitment and retention practices, (3) Engage foster parents in decision-making (4) Provide timely access to trusted, dedicated staff and peer support to foster parents, (5) Prioritize placements with family members and other family connections, and (6) Ensure timely access to physical and mental health services.

The CHAMPS Pledge

Sign the pledge to show your support for today’s amazing foster parents and the importance of quality foster parenting.

Research Supporting CHAMPS

All aspects of the CHAMPS campaign draws on an abundance of research that points to the vital importance of stable, caring families in promoting child well-being. See here for highlights of research that support the policy goals outlined in the CHAMPS playbook.

Watch and Share the CHAMPS Video

Learn more about our national campaign to ensure every child in foster care has a bright future–CHAMPS.

APRENDER MÁS ACERCA DES CHAMPS

A video about CHAMPS in Spanish

CHAMPS New York Unveils Its Policy Priorities

Advocates, legislators, providers, and youth from across the state were on hand as CHAMPS NY was unveiled on May 30, 2018 at the Capitol in Albany.

Celebrate Foster Parents All Year Round

Being recognized as a valued partner is important to most foster parents. The CHAMPS campaign provides an array of tools to help child welfare agencies and community partners show their appreciation of foster parents in their community. A check list of ideas and examples of how other states and communities are taking action is available here.

National Conference of State Legislatures Highlights Foster Parents

The March 2018 edition of NCSL’s monthly magazine features legislative examples that support quality foster parents by making sure foster parents get timely access to the supports and services they need to provide top-notch care.

A Message from the CHAMPS Co-Chairs

A key focus of CHAMPS is to promote state policy changes that lead to better supports for foster parents so they can provide amazing foster parenting. See this message from CHAMPS co-chairs.

See here for the Harvey family story.

Celebrating & Supporting Foster Families

Science supports what we know to be true, which is that children do best in families. This holds true for children and youth in foster care, who do best when they live with someone they know and trust, like family members (kin) or friends.

When kinship foster care is not possible, children and youth should have the opportunity to live with foster families who have the necessary skills and support to nurture their health and well-being. By lifting up and celebrating amazing foster families, we hope that policymakers will gain a greater understanding about the vital role that foster families play in providing stable, loving care to children and in nurturing reunification and other paths to permanency.

  • Read about the Scott family of New York here.
  • Read about the Harvey family of Washington, D.C. here.

Policymakers can see the CHAMPS policy playbook as well as the campaign’s new federal policy recommendations for actionable steps to supporting families and creating better outcomes for children and youth in foster care.

Analysis of State 2020-2024 Foster & Adoptive Parent Diligent Recruitment Plans

This new report highlights innovative examples of foster parent recruitment and retention strategies. We hope child welfare agencies across the country will draw on these examples as they work to improve foster parenting and family-based care. The report also offers recommendations for federal and state policymakers to drive better results through improved use of data; aligning federal financing in support of effective foster family recruitment, training and support; promoting measurable outcomes; and encouraging better partnerships between families and agencies.

 

policy playbook

second edition

The playbook showcases research-based policy recommendations and examples that aim to inform and inspire ongoing state and tribal efforts to improve the lives of children in foster care. These playbook is organized around the CHAMPS six priority policy goals.

The six policy goals include:

  • Support relationships between birth and foster families
  • Implement data-driven recruitment and retention practices
  • Engage foster parents in decision making
  • Provide timely access to trusted, dedicated staff and peer support to foster parents
  • Prioritize placements with family members and other family connections
  • Ensure timely access to physical and mental health services

Visit Our Online Playbook

Visit our new Searchable Policy Database

Policy Playbook Graphic
Policy Playbook Graphic

Policy Playbook

first edition

The Playbook serves as an idea bank of policy approaches to guide to state-level reform efforts.

The Policy Playbook is grounded in evidence and provides policy examples that, when implemented, will pave the way for transformational change for children, families and child welfare systems. The Playbook focuses on policies that promote (1) quality caregiving, (2) parents as partners in decision-making, and (3) quality assurance to help agencies maintain a priority focus on foster parenting.

Learn More

CHAMPS Resources

Find national and state-specific resources about quality foster parenting and its benefits for children.

This resource section contains a variety of materials, including policy and research reports, news articles, event information, videos, fact sheets and more.  If you know about resources that should be included, please send them to us at info@fosteringchamps.org

Learn More

Foster parents can be absolute game-changers in children’s lives. Amazing foster parents are out there, and if we can help share their challenges and triumphs and convince people to join them we can really do something special here.

Jeremy Kohomban,
President and CEO,
The Children’s Village

Our Partners,Funders & Supporters

Get Involved

We invite you to get involved in CHAMPS and be part of building bright futures for kids in foster care.

See the Latest

CHAMPS is an exciting new policy campaign with dozens of partner organizations working together to highlight the vital importance of foster parents to the health and well-being of children in foster care. Check out what’s going on nationally and in the states.