tag | foster care

It’s been almost 45 years since Kathy Stolz-Silvis was in foster care in Pennsylvania. Stolz-Silvis was nine when her father died, making her and her siblings eligible for Social Security survivor benefits. But she didn’t become aware of those benefits until decades later

A 1984 federal law still stands, as do additional state laws, that call for making many parents pay for some of the cost of foster care.

DHS Office of Children, Youth and Families says addressing racial inequalities in the state’s child welfare system is a top priority and will help strengthen families.

The Supreme Court ruled that the city of Philadelphia violated the Constitution by limiting its relationship with a Catholic foster care agency over the group’s refusal to certify same-sex couples as foster parents.

Bias and racism are widespread in the child welfare system. Black children are taken into foster care at a disproportionately high rate and languish longer before being adopted, reunited with their parents or aging out of the system.