About this recommendation

At a glance, many states have literally hundreds of open foster home beds that are not open at all, because they are only willing to accept legally-free infants. These homes require resources to license and maintain, although they are highly unlikely to ever receive a call.

Focus your scarce resources on foster families who can support reunification goals and not on licensing families who are only willing to take legally-free infants.

How to do this

Create a clear plan for identifying and redirecting families who are only interested in infant adoption.
Use reunification-focused language in recruitment materials and focus adoption materials on youth who actually need adoptive homes (like sibling groups and older youth).
Require licenses to be for wider age ranges, such as 0-12 rather than 0-2. In some states, this may require a legislative change, while in others, it is a policy change.

Anticipated costs and benefits

Costs

Benefits

Free

Resources can be focused on homes that youth most need

Who's doing this

2 of 54 states and territories have implemented this recommendation.

Oklahoma started the Resource Family Model in 2018, which emphasizes the need for reunification. It does not approve caregivers who are only willing to take placements under age 12 (except for kinship caregivers).
Ohio counties can redirect families who are only interested in ages 0 to 3 to private adoption agencies, as long as this is in their written recruitment plan. Ohio also has a rule allowing them to close homes if a family declines to take a placement over a certain period of time.