By Claire Elmore, KYA Intern

What is A Home for Every Child? 

Earlier this month, the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced that 50 states had joined “A Home for Every Child,” an initiative primarily focused on achieving a 1:1 ratio between available foster homes and children in foster care. The initiative launched in November 2025, with Kentucky among the first cohort of states to join. Beyond improving the ratio, the initiative also seeks to reduce the administrative burden on child welfare agencies and promote transparency in data collection. 

ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams has stated that: “A Home for Every Child is more than a slogan. It is our organizing principle, and it will drive our every action.”

What does it mean for states to join?

When states join the initiative they gain advantages and obligations. States now are able to complete an alternative Program Improvement Plan (PIP), which would replace the lengthy paperwork previously required with a condensed set of data measures, including the foster home to foster child ratio. In addition to this ratio, states are also required to report data on maintaining family connections, recent maltreatment history, home disruptions, and congregate care. With the hope that better data collection can more accurately measure the progress that is being made in the child welfare system. 

An incentive to this initiative is the A Home for Every Child Innovation Challenge that states will be competing in from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. The awards include: 

  • $3 million to the state with the highest home-to-child ratio 
  • $2 million to the state with the second highest ratio 
  • $2 million to the two states with the most improved ratio from the beginning to the end of the challenge period

What does this look like for Kentucky?

As of February 2026, Kentucky’s ratio is 0.53:1, which is just over one foster home for every two children in foster care. This ratio has been relatively steady over the past six years and is below the national ratio of 57 foster homes for every 100 foster children, with Kentucky’s gap between foster children and homes being 4,090.

There are three ways to move the ratio to the desired 1:1; states can work to: 

  1. Decrease the number of children in care while maintaining the number of available foster homes 
  2. Increase the number of foster homes while maintaining the number of children in care
  3. Both increase the number of foster homes and decrease the number of children in care

Why does this ratio matter?

As ACF Assistant Secretary Adams explained:

“When we do not have enough homes for children, children end up in non-traditional settings–government offices, hotels, Airbnbs.” 

Earlier this year, Kentucky’s Office of the Ombudsman released a report that examined non-traditional placement settings. The Ombudsman’s report included recommendations, such as implementing 2024’s Senate Bill 151 and expanding targeted recruitment for kinship and fictive kin caregivers. 

It is also important to recognize that simply increasing the number of licensed foster homes is not the only way to ensure youth are placed in safe and stable homes. Prioritizing placements with relative and fictive kin is also vital, as these placements can reduce the trauma of entering care, preserve connections to family, culture, and communities, and provide greater stability and continuity for young people. As of July 5, 2026, of the 8,705 children in out-of-home care in Kentucky, 2,382 are placed with relatives or fictive kin in foster and non-foster homes. 

What can you do?

To track the progress of A Home for Every Child, advocates can visit the Administration for Children and Families’ website for updates, including the anticipated launch of a public data dashboard featuring the new child welfare data states are required to report each month.

Community members and advocates can also stay informed about Kentucky’s efforts to ensure that every child has a safe, stable, and supportive home by following Kentucky Youth Advocates on Facebook, X, and Instagram.