Quality Parenting Initiative: Changing Foster Care from the Inside Out
We believe when foster care is necessary, it must be rooted in love, developmental research, and excellent parenting. That belief drives the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) – our national strategy to transform foster care from the inside out. Since its launch in 2008, QPI has brought together child welfare agencies, courts, youth, birth and resource families, and community advocates to co-create policies and practices grounded in developmental science and lived experience. QPI ensures youth and families are full partners in reshaping the system and drives a shared vision where every child in care receives the effective, loving parenting they need to thrive.
QPI’s work is advanced by its national network of community advocates, known as QPI Champions, that currently number more than 700 and who receive regular training equipping them to drive change in policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels. At its core, QPI Champion advocacy is changing the experience of foster care from one of disconnection and instability to one of healing, planning, and love.
By centering the needs of children and their birth families, QPI shifts power away from the agency-based professionals towards foster parents to improve outcomes for children. . .
Furthermore, the success of this approach has broad implications for child welfare reform.
The research and training I’ve received through QPI have been transformative. I’ve learned to approach parenting teens with a developmental lens, which has helped me better understand and support their emotional and behavioral needs. The more I learn about adolescent development, the better I can make the changes needed to guide them through this critical stage in their lives. It’s all about building trust and providing a safe space for them to grow.
QPI empowered me as a foster parent and allowed me to shape foster care policy. I’m proud to have helped create a new transition policy in Fresno County that ensures children are not abruptly moved from their homes.
QPI has resulted in the growth of new advocacy initiatives as it continues its work changing the foster care system from the inside out.