Policy & Practice | Summer 2025

A People-First Approach to Reshape Child Welfare Prioritizing People Over Programs

By Joseph Castro

nurture children, but these agencies are also grappling with significant challenges. High caseloads and emotional demands lead to high turnover rates, limiting meaningful engage ment to support families. Systemic bias disproportionately impacts minority families, whose children are more likely to face investigations, removals, and foster care placements due to poverty being misidentified as neglect. This can lead to unnecessary interventions when families simply need financial or social support. The foster care system faces a shortage of homes, making it hard to find placements that best meet children’s needs. This may force placements for children at institutional settings or far from their communities, leading to instability and potential trauma. These challenges also impact caseworkers’ workload, and any resulting crises take time away from supporting other families. Preventive services, such as mental health care, parenting resources, and substance abuse treatment, have historically been under funded, leaving many youths aging out of the system susceptible to challenges like home lessness and unemployment. Overall, these pressures create a cascade of stress for family members, caregivers, and child welfare agencies, blocking sustain able progress. However, efforts like the Family First Act are shifting the focus toward early inter vention and family support. By prioritizing programs that strengthen families and provide preventive care, there is a growing commitment to creating better outcomes and addressing systemic challenges more effectively.

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hat if the secret to improving outcomes for families lies not in focusing on programs, but

in putting people first? Government efficiency programs are reshaping the status quo, putting social program agencies under increasing pressure to deliver more with fewer resources—all while maintaining quality outcomes for indi viduals and improving family well-being. This challenge is further amplified by rising demand for support in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty. With rising caseloads and workforce short ages, a different approach is needed. Moving toward a holistic approach to family well being focused on reducing the burden for families and the administrative burden for caseworkers, and achieving better outcomes by prioritizing people over programs offers a powerful way to build stronger families and healthier communities. In fact, supporting family well-being holis tically can be a powerful driver of positive change in child welfare. Breaking down silos and streamlining access to services can reduce stress on overburdened families, simplifying access to vital support, and in some cases preventing unnecessary involvement in child protection services. Pressures on the Child Welfare System Affect Family Outcomes As part of the family well-being ecosystem, child welfare systems aim to protect and

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Policy & Practice Summer 2025