Society's efforts should be directed first toward strengthening and preserving a birth family that can adequately meet the child's needs. A child may require substitute family care arranged by the child welfare system when neither the birth parents nor the extended birth families can meet the child's developmental needs. Because they become a part of their foster child's extended family, foster families must negotiate relationships that support the birth parents and the goals of placement. Every family is different moving to a new family is always a cultural shock for children. Each child has the right to receive culturally competent care and services and to be prepared for self-sufficiency and independent living.
Every child needs continuity of care.
When the birth family cannot be helped enough to meet their child's ongoing developmental needs, the child should be legally adopted by a family that can provide a greater sense of belonging and permanence.