In November 2025, the president signed Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, an Executive Order (EO) focused on improving the foster care system. The EO instructed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make the following reforms:
- Update policies and regulations to improve the transparency of state data and eliminate duplicative/unnecessary reporting
- Promote modernization of state child welfare information systems
- Publish an annual scorecard to evaluate state performance
- Establish a “Fostering the Future” initiative to create new educational and employment opportunities for individuals who are in or transitioning out of the foster care system
- Develop an online platform to help youth find resources and build personalized success plans
- Reallocate funds returned by states for youth leaving foster care
- Make education and training vouchers more flexible for short-term career programs
- Support states in using tax-credit scholarships for children in foster care
- Increase partnerships with faith-based organizations
This Issue Brief highlights new initiatives and actions taken by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to date.