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1500
English Poor Laws
In the 1500s the English Poor Laws allowed those in poverty, without a home, or orphaned youth to be placed in indentured service until adulthood. -
The First Foster Child
Seven-year-old Benjamin Eaton became the nation’s first recorded foster child a mere thirty years after the founding of Jamestown Colony. -
Involvement of local agencies and state governments
The initiatives established by Children’s Aid New York led to the involvement of local agencies and state governments in foster home placements. In the mid-19th century, Massachusetts began offering to pay families who took in children that were too young to work. -
When Foster Care came about
In 1853, Charles Loring Brace began the free foster home movement. A minister and director of the New York Children's Aid Society, Brace was concerned about the large number of immigrant children sleeping in the streets of New York. -
Foster Care in the 1900s
Social Agencies and Foster Parents
In the early 1900s, social agencies began to pay and supervise foster parents. The government started state inspections of foster homes. Records were kept to increase accountability and children's needs were considered when placements were made. -
Laws shift from protecting guardians to protecting children
In the early 20th century, local agencies began paying and monitoring foster parents, keeping records, and considering the needs of children when placements were made. -
Focus on home life and stability for children
The Children’s Bureau, as part of the United States Department of Labor, published Minimum Standards of Child Welfare, highlighting the importance of keeping a child in their own home whenever possible, and if removal from home was necessary, offering an environment of “home life” through foster placements. -
The federal government takes over foster care
With the passing of the Social Security Act in 1935, the United States federal government approved the first federal grants for child welfare services given that state inspections of foster homes take place prior. -
Foster care as a refuge 1939-1945
During World War II, thousands of youth fleeing unsafe areas in England were temporarily placed in foster homes around the United States. -
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) model introduced
In the Seventies, Judge David Soukup developed the first model of a court-appointed volunteer in Seattle, Washington. This volunteer’s role was to offer more detailed information about a foster youth’s needs to the court. -
Installment of May as National Foster Care Month
President Reagan announced a presidential proclamation that National Foster Care Month would be established in May. -
Introduction of California’s Extended Foster Care (EFC) Program
California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 12 was signed into law in 2010 and went into effect in 2012. Certain youth continue remaining in foster care up to the age of 21 given that they meet one of five participation criteria. This means having a high school diploma or GED, being enrolled in higher education, participating in an employment program, being employed at least 80 hours a month, or having a medical condition that prevents the former requirements