The Quality Foster Care Services Act – a ray of hope for our nation's most vulnerable youth

Today at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Senator Baldwin joined Wisconsin Treatment Foster Care agencies and parents to talk about the impact of her recently introduced bipartisan legislation, the Quality Foster Care Services Act.

Therapeutic, or treatment, foster care (TFC) is an alternative form of care and a ray of hope for some of our nation’s most vulnerable youth. The TFC model works to keep particularly vulnerable youth out of costly and often ineffective institutional care. Through the TFC model, foster parents are given special training to address the needs of youth with major mental and/or physical health challenges. Also through this program, children are given access to intensive in-home services to better sustain them in the community.  By training foster families to care for these unique needs, children are better able to find some stability in their home life, often for the very first time. Today, TFC provides critical services to approximately 40,000 foster children across the country and nearly 1,000 children every year in Wisconsin.

Despite the clear benefits of TFC, current law does not provide for a standard definition of TFC under Medicaid. Though TFC services are provided across the country—and are reimbursed through Medicaid and other child welfare funding streams—the lack of a federal standard definition impairs TFC quality and access.

To help fix this problem, Tammy has introduced the Quality Foster Care Services Act. This bipartisan legislation, introduced with Republican Rob Portman of Ohio, establishes a federal Medicaid definition for TFC. This simple clarification will promote accountability for states offering TFC, identify a clear financing option through Medicaid, and drive personnel training and standards.

In our state, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, as well as many other high-quality Wisconsin Treatment Foster Care agencies, remain strong leaders in providing TFC. Their work has inspired Senator Baldwin to bring this issue to Congress to improve mental health treatment options nationwide to better support our children and families.