Giving Group Homes a 21st Century Makeover

Residents of the Williams Cottage finish their lunch at the Dobbs Ferry, New York, campus of the Children’s Village. The company’s new focus reflects a growing consensus within the child welfare field that institutional settings for foster children, though sometimes necessary, should be used sparingly.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press

Back in the day, they called them orphanages, a place for kids who had nowhere else to go. Today, they’re called “group homes,” and while their use has decreased over the years, they’re still very much a part of the U.S. child welfare system: 1 in 7 foster children lives in an institutional setting.

Recognizing that children fare best when they’re living at home with a family, child welfare officials have pushed to minimize the use of group homes. And a new federal law — thebiggest reboot of the foster care system in nearly 40 years — will place even greater restrictions on their use.

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