Pressures and Possibilities: Family Support, Foster Care and the Future of a Billion-Dollar System

A Child Welfare Watch Forum.

The Bloomberg administration is mounting an all-out campaign to reduce the length of time children spend in foster care and to make preventive and post-reunification supports for families more effective. Few disagree with these goals. But in a child welfare system managed by nonprofits, the city must use its power over contracts to drive change. It’s an enormous and controversial challenge. Will the city provide enough funding and support for overstretched agencies? What will it take for the sector to follow the road to reform?

Speakers: Gladys Carrión, Commissioner, NYS Office of Children and Family Services John Mattingly, Commissioner, NYC Administration for Children’s Services Bill Baccaglini, Jr., Executive Director, The New York Foundling Sabra Jackson, Parent Organizer, Child Welfare Organizing Project

Moderator: Andrew White, Director, Center for New York City Affairs

The Child Welfare Watch project is made possible thanks to generous support from the Child Welfare Fund, the Sirus Fund, the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation and the United Way of New York City.