Trump Administration Hitting Right Notes On Foster Care Reform: Brooklyn Roberts in Daily Caller
Families are society’s cornerstone, and the Trump administration is working to ensure every child has a safe, permanent home.
Daily Caller ran an op-ed written by Brooklyn Roberts, Senior Director of ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force. In the piece, she details the meaningful strides President Trump & First Lady Melania Trump have made towards reforming the American foster system, highlighting efforts to expand the available number of foster homes, increase accountability, and prioritize permanent family placements for vulnerable children.
Amid headlines dominated by Iran and Munich, the Trump administration has quietly made strides to reform America’s foster care system.
Across the nation, nearly every state faces a critical shortage of foster homes. According to the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, Alex Adams, there are only 57 foster homes for every 100 foster children. First Lady Melania Trump has made it her mission to improve these numbers and address the deep challenges within our child welfare system.
The administration’s child welfare reforms began early in President Donald Trump’s first term with the Family First Prevention Services Act, passed as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. This landmark legislation realigned federal child welfare funding toward prevention, allowing states to use Title IV-E funds (previously restricted to foster care maintenance) for evidence-based services that help keep children safely with their families. These services include mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and in-home parenting support. Notably, the act removed income eligibility restrictions, making preventive resources more accessible to families in crisis. It also limited federal funding for group homes to encourage family-based placements—recognizing that children thrive most in stable, loving homes.
In 2020, Trump built on these reforms with an executive order designed to strengthen public-private partnerships, streamline oversight, and expand resources for foster youth. While the Family First Act created a framework for prevention, too many children were still waiting too long for family placement. Drawing on Alex Adams’ successful reforms in Idaho, the administration increased collaboration with faith-based and community organizations to provide critical resources and reduce bureaucratic barriers that had long prevented these partners from helping effectively.