The bill aims to improve foster and adoptive family recruitment and support. States must now develop Family Partnership Plans involving various stakeholders and utilize data to set goals, track progress, and address recruitment and retention challenges. States are required to report on foster family capacity, congregate care utilization, and feedback from foster and adoptive families. Additionally, the bill mandates the inclusion of detailed information on foster and adoptive families in the annual child welfare outcomes report to Congress. The effective date for implementation is October 1, 2026, with allowances for state legislature requiring adjustments.
Recruiting Families Using Data Act of 2025
This bill requires state plans for child welfare services to provide for the development and implementation of a family partnership plan to improve foster care placement stability, increase rates of kinship placements, and align the composition of foster and adoptive families with the needs of children in or entering foster care.
The Children's Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families also must include in its annual report information from states about the number, demographics, and characteristics of foster and adoptive families as well as a summary of the challenges related to recruiting and being foster or adoptive parents.
