preview

In 1853, Charles Loring Brace Started The Free Foster Home

Better Essays

In 1853, Charles Loring Brace started the Free Foster Home Movement. Charles Loring Brace was a minister and devoted his life to improving the lives of children. Because of his concern for the children in New York sleeping on the streets, Brace devised a plan to accommodate them. He created the Children’s Aid Society to help impoverished children. Brace advertised looking for homes for children. He believed living in New York was not what was best for them. Instead, he thought, children should live in Christian homes in rural areas. In 1854, Brace created a “placing out” program where he sent 46 boys to live with Christian farmers (Hansan, 2016). In large, our foster care system mimics this. While the idea seemed nice, many farmers …show more content…

This was the first federal agency to work only to improve the lives of children and families. Since its establishment, the Children’s Bureau has tackled many social welfare issues. Focusing primarily on children and families, the Children’s Bureau deals with a variety of issues including, “Infant and maternal death, child labor, family economic security, and foster care” (Children’s Bureau, 2017). The children’s Bureau is fundamental in many child welfare laws. For example, they helped instigate the special juvenile delinquency project in the 1950s and in 1963 they helped the Senate enact child abuse report laws. Because of their intertwined work with children, they have managed to shape a lot of social welfare programs.
One of the major social issues the Children’s Bureau helps is foster care. “The Children’s Bureau provides funding to states and tribes to provide safe foster care placements for children and youth who cannot remain in their homes” (Children’s Bureau, 2017). Working alongside Title IV-E Care Program and John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, the Bureau provides for children under the supervision of the state. The Bureau provides training to foster parents to help ensure competent caregivers are in the system. Because children tend to be cycled in and out of foster care, the Bureau created a Permanency Innovations Initiative. This federal program is targeted to promote permanent homes for children with serious barriers

Get Access