Recruiting Families Using Data Act of 2025

This bill aims to significantly enhance the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive families across states by amending the Social Security Act to require states to develop and implement comprehensive family partnership plans . These plans must be developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including birth, kinship, foster, and adoptive families, as well as youth with lived experience in foster care. A key component is the requirement for states to use data to establish goals, assess needs, and improve outcomes like increasing kinship placements and aligning family composition with children's needs. The plans also mandate annual reporting on foster family capacity, congregate care utilization, and feedback from foster and adoptive parents regarding licensure, training, and reasons for placement disruptions or cessation of fostering. Furthermore, the legislation requires states to analyze and report on challenges and barriers to recruiting families that reflect the racial and ethnic backgrounds of children in foster care, outlining efforts to overcome these disparities. To ensure transparency and accountability, the bill expands the annual child welfare outcomes report to Congress, requiring detailed state-by-state data on foster and adoptive families and summaries of recruitment and retention challenges.