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By Judy Chu and Miriam Aroni Krinsky

Each year, close to three quarters of a million of California's children come into contact with our child welfare system. More than half are 5 or younger. Foster care can provide life-saving protection for children who are unable to safely remain in their own homes. However, too many children experience foster care as a long-term saga rather than a short-term refuge.

Many children who have been placed in foster care struggle to find stability. They are confronted with a revolving door of new placements, disrupted schooling, lack of contact with siblings and extended family, and the inability to enjoy a normal childhood. As a result, it is not surprising that foster youth often experience difficulties as adults. More than a third of children in our foster care system earn neither a high school diploma nor a GED. Fewer than half of young adults were employed 12 to 18 months after they aged out of the foster care system, and more than one-fifth of former foster children will become homeless at some time after age 18.

Momentum exists to change California's child welfare system. The legislative Select Committee on Foster Care and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care, among others, are seeking improvements among the many agencies and organizations that affect the lives of these vulnerable children. The time is ripe to change the way our state meets the needs of abused and neglected youth. But improvements that could help our state's most vulnerable children cannot be made without more flexible funding options.

Federal government funding mechanisms have imposed a straitjacket on the foster care system. Federal funds dedicated to supporting children in foster care cannot be used until children are removed from their homes, even when there is compelling evidence that they would be better served by keeping their fragile family units intact. This creates a perverse financial incentive to break families apart.

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