Youth with lived experience in foster care, research, and data tell us that children in foster care do best when placed with family or in family-like settings. While short-term, clinically indicated behavioral health treatment may need to be provided in group or institutional settings, these settings should never be considered as viable substitutes for care by and connection with family.
This brief reflects conversations with child protection agency administrators from five states (Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Oklahoma, and Washington) about their approaches to QRTP requirements, including embracing the values of keeping children with families or in family-like settings, and reducing placement of children and youth in group or institutional facilities.
