No Place to Call Home

Book excerpt: Abstract: This publication reports the conclusions of a series of hearing concerning support and services for children in troubled families. The Congress has made a commitment to guarantee support in the form of out of home placement when necessary and reunification with their families when possible. This report sought to answer several questions including: are there fewer unnecessary placements of children out of their homes than previously occurred? When children must be placed, are there more effective permanent placements than there were ten years ago? Are children receiving quality services when they are entrusted to the child welfare system? Several failings of the systen are revealed while some promising policies, innovative strategies, and effective programs were found.