Current Issues & Priorities

The Children’s Bureau (CB) seeks to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children through leadership, support for necessary services, and productive partnerships with states, tribes, and communities.

Each administration presents a set of priorities that reflect their vision for improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. The Associate Commissioner identified four overarching priorities to prevent children from entering foster care, support youth who transition out of foster care, increase the recognition of and needed additional support for kinship caregivers, and transform the child welfare workforce to increase recruitment and retention and overall job satisfaction. All four of these priorities will be approached with the administration’s commitment to addressing disproportionality and disparity for marginalized communities.

• Children's Bureau Equity Public Statement: This is a statement from CB on the steps being taken to advance equity for all children and families.
• Letter From Aysha E. Schomburg on Equity in Child Welfare: This letter outlines how the federal government, and CB specifically, are committed to advancing equity through federal-level work with states, territories, tribes, and grant recipients.
• Addressing Disproportionality, Disparity, and Equity Throughout Child Welfare: This page highlights CB’s commitment to addressing disproportionality and disparity for Black and African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic and Latino, LGBTQIA2S+ people, those experiencing poverty, and other marginalized populations involved with child welfare.

The Associate Commissioner identified the following four priority issues to guide the work of the Children’s Bureau: