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Until Every Family Thrives

Foster America is transforming the way our nation supports families. Together with communities and local governments, we’re creating a just, equitable alternative to today’s child welfare system – so parents and children stay together with access to the resources they need to thrive.

To foster a future where all children and families thrive, we:

Drive Innovation

We are designing solutions alongside our nation’s boldest governments and communities. Together, we demonstrate that bolstering support for families is an effective alternative to referring them for a child welfare investigation that may lead to the separation of families.

See Our Impact

Develop Changemakers

We’re building a network of people with the imagination – and determination – to transform the child welfare system. We nurture and connect leaders, growing their skills and amplifying our collective impact.

Meet Our Changemakers

Disseminate Knowledge

We share what works, so more families and more organizations in more places have the support they need. Our workshops and training allow child welfare practitioners, community leaders, and those who have experienced the foster care system firsthand to learn from our team and one another.

Access Our Resources
"We must reimagine child welfare — beginning with the belief that parents love their kids, and our job is to foster their well-being.”
Marie Zemler Wu, Co-Founder & Executive Director

Foster America centers equity and drives change using four strategies.

Co-design
Learn
Collaborate
Finance
Equity

Co-design

We center the perspectives of parents, young people, and community leaders to put their vision at the heart of new solutions.

Learn

We ensure qualitative and quantitative data informs decisions, fuels continuous improvement, and promotes accountability.

Collaborate

We coordinate with governmental partners, nonprofits, civic and corporate leaders, to break down barriers and align efforts to support families effectively.

Finance

We help identify funding opportunities for programs that proactively offer the types of support families need and want – an alternative to harmful and costly traditional child welfare approaches.

Co-design
We center the perspectives of parents, young people, and community leaders to put their vision at the heart of new solutions.
Collaborate
We coordinate with governmental partners, nonprofits, civic and corporate leaders, to break down barriers and align efforts to support families effectively
Finance
We help identify funding opportunities for programs that proactively offer the types of support families need and want – an alternative to harmful and costly traditional child welfare approaches.
Learn
We ensure qualitative and quantitative data informs decisions, fuels continuous improvement, and promotes accountability.
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Every year, 7 million children are reported to a child abuse hotline, and 600,000 of them enter the foster care system – causing traumatic family separations with little evidence children’s lives are improved in the long term.

Foster America envisions a reality where those numbers are far smaller, with families receiving the support they need to thrive before encountering child protective services and the threat of family separation.

The latest news from Foster America

/8 March, 2024
Transforming the child welfare system is a truly collective effort, requiring bold changemakers from across sectors to imagine a new...
/8 February, 2024
Foster America is excited to announce new opportunities to join our work to prevent systems involvement for families in need...
/29 January, 2024
Foster America invites finance professionals serving children, youth, and families to join a 12-month hybrid fellowship focused on fiscal innovation...
/12 October, 2023
Building on seven years of success driving positive change through our immersive fellowship program, Foster America is honing its focus...
/9 February, 2023
Foster America is inviting 15 community leaders and changemakers who are serving children, youth, and families to join us for...
/30 January, 2023
Brian brings 30 years’ experience applying data-driven approaches to transform child and family services. Starting February 6th, he’ll help shape...
/31 December, 2022
Dear friends, As 2022 comes to a close, we are grateful for another year of innovation, impact, and inspiration. This year,...
/4 November, 2022
Convening in person for the first time since January 2020, Foster America staff, fellows, and alumni joined alongside a group...
We're hiring! Find open positions here.