Every child deserves a family.
Every Tennessean has a role to play.

A vulnerable Tennessee family — before any CPS report.

By the time the Department of Children's Services receives a maltreatment report, the family is rarely a stranger to Tennessee's public systems. Most are already being served by Tennessee's public assistance systems — SNAP, TANF (Families First), child care assistance, and housing programs through the Department of Human Services, and health coverage through TennCare, the state's Medicaid program administered by the Division of TennCare under the Department of Finance & Administration. The strongest single predictor of child welfare involvement is material hardship — the daily question of whether basic needs are met.

Causal evidence — the upstream link

Strengthening safety-net programs causally reduces child welfare system involvement.

Johnson-Motoyama et al., Health Affairs (2022); Brown et al. (2019); Berger et al. (2017); Slack & Berger (2021).

— Tennessee, 1996 — the structural divide

When DCS was created, vulnerable children and vulnerable families were placed in different state agencies.

In April 1996, the Tennessee General Assembly created the Department of Children's Services, consolidating child welfare services from across state government in response to a system in crisis. The reform was necessary — but it also formalized a split between the agencies serving vulnerable children (DCS) and the agencies serving vulnerable families (DHS, administering SNAP, TANF/Families First, TennCare, and child care assistance). For nearly three decades, these systems have operated largely in parallel — without the coordination needed to prevent crisis upstream.

A sister GFBCI initiative

This is where the Human Flourishing Initiative operates.

HFI builds county-level alliances that bring together DHS, DCS, schools, faith communities, and local organizations around vulnerable families before they reach the threshold of CPS involvement. The premise is straightforward: by focusing the full weight of county resources on a family to reduce avoidable crises, we can help more children remain safely with their families.

Child welfare is a lagging indicator. Every removal represents a chain of unmet needs upstream. ECTN's work is critical when crisis hits — HFI's work can be even more powerful when it stops crisis from forming.

A Tennessee family in crisis

Each year, more than 5,000 Tennessee children enter foster care. Many families who come to the attention of the child welfare system are also facing concrete needs (housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers, or child care challenges). Meeting those needs early can reduce stress, strengthen safety, and help more children remain safely with their families when it is appropriate. 

Causal evidence

Providing economic and concrete supports has a causal effect on reducing child maltreatment and child welfare entry.

Chapin Hall, A Systematic Review of Economic & Concrete Support to Prevent Child Maltreatment (December 2024).

If upstream prevention doesn't reach the family in time, this is where ECTN's Priority 01 — Preservation operates — meeting the tangible need at the moment of crisis through CarePortal.

— Relative caregiver program as the first response

Before formal foster care: a relative, family friend, or trusted adult.

When a Tennessee family reaches a moment of crisis, the first question DCS asks is whether someone in the child's existing network — a grandparent, aunt or uncle, family friend, or other trusted adult — can step in. Keeping a child within their circle of trust before formal foster care begins preserves identity, school, community, and continuity of care.

— When formal placement is needed, kinship comes first

Tennessee law requires that relatives be considered before non-kinship foster homes.

When a child enters DCS custody, the department must prioritize locating an appropriate kinship foster placement for at least the first 30 days. Relatives who become approved kinship foster parents are supported as foster families through DCS.

30% of children in U.S. foster care were placed with relatives in FY2024 — the highest rate in the federal data set.

— When kinship is unavailable

The next best placement is a licensed foster home with a family-like setting.

Every child who can't be placed with a relative still needs a stable, family-like home — not just a placement, but people who show up for them day after day. That's exactly where Tennessee's gap is widest, and it's where the community has the power to step in.

~3000 gap in Tennessee between children in care and homes available. 

This is where Priorities 02 — Recruitment operates. We need a comprehensive and coordinated effort to recruit more foster homes. The Contingent, our recruitment partner, has developed a tech-forward strategy to recruit more foster families that can support all kids in care.  See how

The stability evidence

Placement stability is one of the strongest predictors of positive adjustment for children in foster care — more so than cognitive ability or social skills.

Rubin et al., Pediatrics (2007); Proctor et al. (2010); Casey Family Programs synthesis.

— The reason placements end

Foster families need support — or they don't last.

National research consistently identifies lack of support as the top reason foster parents quit. Survey data shows 44% of foster parents did not receive the support they needed during periods of burnout. Without sustained training, respite, community, and emotional support, foster families close their homes — and the children placed with them have to be moved. The cycle of instability accelerates.

This is where Priority 03 — Retention operates. Recruitment alone never closes the gap if families burn out faster than they're added. Tennessee Kids Belong, our retention partner, mobilizes faith communities, churches, and local supporters to wrap around foster families with practical and emotional support — directly addressing the support gap that drives burnout and protecting placement stability for the children in their care. See how

70–80%

face homelessness, addiction, incarceration, or trafficking by age 21 — without proper support.

This is where Priority 04 — Transition operates. See how