Strengthening Families With Teens

"Meeting Teens’ Needs and Preventing Unnecessary Out-of-Home Placements in Delaware," describes a troubling trend: the rising number of teens placed in foster.

While the nation’s child welfare system was built to address neglect and abuse, too many teens today find themselves in the system for reasons unrelated to that mission. For a significant number of teens, “child behavior” (often the result of conflicts between parents and children) is the reason for entry. In 2017, child behavior was cited as the entry cause for 37 percent of youth over the age of 12 who entered foster care — a rate nine times higher than for younger children.