Americans’ Views of U.S. Foster Care: Kidsave Gallup Report

“You taught me how to be myself. You always motivated me to do better in life. You’re the best coach I ever hd. Best mentor, best friend, best brother from another mother. All of that.” Gamalier (left) to Toussaint (right), his former education coach at HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services in New York City, on what his support meant as a youth in foster care. Photo courtesy of StoryCorps.

Kidsave’s EMBRACE Project (Expanding Meaningful Black Relationships and Creating Equity) is a multiyear, research-driven effort to better understand and improve outcomes for Black youth in foster care. Kidsave partnered with Gallup’s Center on Black Voices to uncover Black Americans’ perspectives on foster care and adoption. The study identifies barriers to mentoring, fostering and adopting for Black potential caregivers as well as pathways to overcome those obstacles and increase the number of foster and adoptive parents.  

In February 2024, our Foster Youth initiative hosted a webinar with the EMBRACE Project Task Force team to dive deeper into the first set of findings: 

Members of the EMBRACE Project Task Force, Dr. Charity Chandler-Cole and Sunshine Best, MPH, join the end of the presentation for a Q&A session, grounding the results of the study in their lived experience of the child welfare system. Dr. Charity and Sunshine elucidate the child welfare system’s strengths and flaws through their firsthand knowledge. Their unique perspective offers valuable insights into what works, what doesn’t and how policies can be improved to better serve Black children and families.  

View the web version of this report.