Eighteen years ago this month, on October 7, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the child welfare bill known as Fostering Connections that passed both the House and Senate unopposed.
That was remarkable on its own. It happened during a heated election season and a national financial crisis, when agreement was rare.
But on this issue, Congress found common ground.
The law, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, is often seen as the first major reform of federal child welfare funding in 28 years.
This week, it turns 18.
And something about that number feels fitting because 18 is exactly the age when young people age out of foster care. But are they ready to live on their own?
Why It Mattered
Before 2008, the federal framework for funding foster care hadn't been overhauled since 1980.
For many years, the system focused on one urgent question: Where will this child sleep tonight?
Fostering Connections asked a more significant question: Who will take care of this child?
The answer, written into federal law, was simple. Children belong with the people who already know and love them. And when a child has to move, the system should work hard to keep those connections intact.
What the Law Changed
Family comes first. States had to find and notify a child's adult relatives within 30 days of entering foster care. The law also offered federal support for relatives who become legal guardians, plus grants for kinship navigator programs and family-finding efforts.
Siblings stay together. States had to make real efforts to place brothers and sisters in the same home. If that was not possible, they needed to help siblings stay in regular contact.
School stays steady. A new placement should not always mean a new classroom, teachers, and friends. The law required states to plan for educational stability and keep children in their current school when it is best for them.
Health care gets coordinated. States had to create plans to oversee the physical and mental health care of children in foster care, so their medical history would not get lost between homes.
Turning 18 no longer means facing adulthood alone. For the first time, states could use federal funds to support young adults in foster care up to age 21.
Tribal nations gained direct access. Tribes could now receive federal foster care and adoption funding directly to help the children in their care.
More children found forever families. The law extended the Adoption Incentive Program and doubled the bonuses for adoptions of older children and children with special needs.
What It Means in Tennessee
Tennessee chose to opt in.
Today, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services offers Extension of Foster Care, a voluntary program that helps young adults who leave care at 18 keep receiving support with housing, education, job training, and life skills as they step into adulthood.
The law's emphasis on family also echoes in Tennessee's kin-first approach to placement, which looks to relatives and trusted family friends whenever a child can't safely stay home.
With nearly 9,000 children in foster care across our state, these connections are real. They can mean the difference between a child feeling alone and a child feeling supported.
What a Law Can't Pack
Every part of Fostering Connections comes back to one idea.
Children do better when they stay connected. To family. To siblings. To their school. To the people who know their story. But there's one moment no law can fully reach. Moving Day.
Even when a child moves in with a grandparent, stays in the same school, or has a sibling with them, there is still a moment when everything they own must be packed up and carried out the door. Too often, those belongings end up in a trash bag.
That's where My Bag My Story comes in. A bag of their own tells a child something simple and true: You matter. Your things matter. Your story matters.
Eighteen Years Later
In 2008, Congress agreed that children in foster care deserve to stay connected to the people and places that make them who they are.
Eighteen years later, we're still building on that promise. One family, one connection, and one bag at a time.