Focus Areas

To achieve our mission of promoting safe and stable families, the Children's Bureau concentrates our efforts in eight distinct focus areas, including adoption, child abuse and neglect, child welfare, foster care, Child and Family Services Reviews, tribal programs, federal programs, and state programs.

The Children’s Bureau works with states, tribes, and communities to develop programs to assist America's children and their families and to collect information on child welfare for research and program improvement.

At the Children’s Bureau, we have several areas of focus that allow us to improve the overall health and well-being of our nation’s children and families.

Adoption

The Children's Bureau supports programs, research, and monitoring to help eliminate barriers to adoption and find permanent families for children. We provide funding to states and tribes to help them support families who adopt from foster care and provide additional funds to states that achieve a high number of adoptions of children from foster care.

Child Abuse & Neglect

The Children’s Bureau supports programs, research, and monitoring systems that prevent child abuse and neglect while ensuring that children who are victims receive treatment and care. We provide funding to states and tribes to help them strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. Our funding also provides for child abuse and neglect assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities.

Child Welfare Services

The Children’s Bureau supports state and tribal child welfare programs through funding, research, monitoring, and special initiatives to promote positive outcomes for children and families involved in child welfare.

Foster Care

Through the title IV-E Foster Care program, the Children’s Bureau supports states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) provide board and care payments for eligible children who are under the supervision of the state and placed in foster family homes or childcare institutions that are safe and licensed.

Guardianship

The Children's Bureau provides funding to states and tribes that have been approved to operate a title IV-E Guardianship Assistance program in order to help them support relatives who become legal guardians of children from foster care for whom they previously cared for as foster parents.

Tribes

The Children’s Bureau supports tribal child welfare programs through funding, research, monitoring, and special initiatives to promote positive outcomes for tribal children and families involved in child welfare.