How Foster Homes Were Started
Deep social need prompted the development of America's foster care system. In the mid-1800s, thousands of orphaned and abandoned children roamed the streets of New York. Social reformers started the Children's Aid Society in response to a growing problem.
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History
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Rev. Charles Loring Brace, founding father of the Children's Aid Society of New York, believed that children would thrive if placed in a healthy family setting away from the slums of the city. Thus began the Orphan Train Movement, the first official foster care program, in 1853.
Early Success
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The Orphan Train Movement ran until the 1920s, took over 120,000 children from the streets of New York, and placed them with farm families in the Midwest. A Children's Aid Society Report conducted in 1910 concluded that 87 percent of these children were "doing well."
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Evolution
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Because of New York's success, other states implemented foster care programs. By the early 1900s, the federal government started supporting state inspections of foster homes, according to the National Foster Parent Association. The early programs evolved into the state foster care systems we know today.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Child image by Serenitie from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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George McCasland
Oct 07, 2010
My mother grew up in the Sacramento Children's Home.
