A Home for Every Child

To advance the Make America Healthy Again agenda at ACF, the ACF Children’s Bureau (CB) has sharpened the child welfare focus on a simple goal—to have homes waiting on kids, not kids waiting on homes. ACF’s new A Home for Every Child initiative will allow CB and jurisdictions to prioritize matters that safely decrease the number of children entering foster care through effective prevention, while also increasing the number of foster homes through diligent recruitment, prioritizing kin, and improving retention of existing caregivers. More information on the initiative can be found here: A Home for Every Child

Case-Related Interviews: Part 3 Course Now Available on the ELA

A new course, Case-Related Interviews: Part 3, is now available on the Round 4 E-Learning Academy. This course, which concludes the three-part Case-Related Interviews course series, focuses on how to incorporate information from case-related interviews into item ratings and Rationale Statements in the Onsite Review Instrument and Instructions (OSRI). It is accredited through the Association of Social Work Boards and provides 1 Continuing Education credit upon successful completion.

CFSR TB #14 Analytic Technical Instructions Now Updated

These technical instructions provide specific definitions and measurement criteria for the CFSR A Home for Every Child (AH4EC) Program Improvement Plan (PIP) pilot program described in Technical Bulletin #14 (TB #14). The latest updated 8/13/26 version includes an added sentence on page 4 under Additional Data - Child Entry/Exit noting an exception to the under-age-18 criteria to include in the count of exits a child who exited to emancipation on their 18th birthday.

Analytic Technical Instructions 

AH4EC Data Tool Promotional Video Now Available

The A Home for Every Child (AH4EC) Data Tool is now live and ready for states to begin uploading monthly data related to their participation in the Technical Bulletin (TB) #14 AH4EC PIP pilot program. This powerful data system facilitates monthly reporting and provides easily accessible data on a state’s foster homes, child-to-home ratio, and chaser measures. Want to know more about the Data Tool and how it will work for you? Take a few minutes to watch a brief promotional video highlighting some of its key features and benefits. Note: You do not need to be logged into the portal to do so.

Watch the Video

CFSR Technical Bulletin #14

Technical Bulletin (TB) #14 is now available. The changes outlined in this TB aim to maintain state accountability for achieving meaningful outcomes for children and families, enhance transparency and public accountability, reduce administrative burden, and provide states with greater flexibility to innovate and build capacity to manage and improve child welfare systems and outcomes, centered around the goal of A Home for Every Child.

CFSR TB #14: Analytic Technical Instructions and Template Spreadsheet

Technical instructions are now available. These technical instructions provide specific definitions and measurement criteria for the CFSR A Home for Every Child (AH4EC) Program Improvement Plan (PIP) pilot program described in Technical Bulletin #14 (TB #14). These instructions also include descriptions of the data required for the Core Measure (the home-to-child ratio) and 4 Chaser Measures (wraparound measures) mentioned in TB #14.

Additionally, the template spreadsheet is now available. This spreadsheet is intended for importing data into the new AH4EC Data Tool in the Round 4 OMS. State editors can also download this spreadsheet directly from the "Import monthly data" page of the AH4EC Data Tool.