The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services is highlighting major accomplishments and new initiatives to strengthen its workforce, modernize child welfare and improve outcomes for Louisiana’s children and families ahead of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare meeting today, October 12.
DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris and members of the executive team are showcasing progress to lawmakers in addressing longstanding issues, strengthening accountability and building better systems to help children and families succeed.
Modernizing Child Welfare
DCFS is making important investments in technology and processes to better support employees, caregivers and children.
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- HomeReady is here! Launched October 7, this new online platform gives prospective kinship and foster caregivers one place to complete applications, access training, upload documents and track their progress. It marks the first major technology advancement in child welfare in nearly a decade!
- A modern child welfare system is in development. Following the completion of its child welfare reorganization, DCFS has released a procurement for a new system to better support its work.
- The open investigation backlog is down 55% from its October 2025 peak, declining from 3,690 to 1,666 as of October 10, 2026.
Investing in the Workforce
Strong outcomes start with a strong workforce. DCFS is pursuing new opportunities to support frontline employees, strengthen training and create career pathways.
- State Civil Service salary job study: Working with State Civil Service on a study of salaries for DCFS positions.
- University of Louisiana System partnership: Exploring a potential statewide workforce development and training partnership. This could be a game changer for Louisiana, connecting college students with career opportunities serving children and families.
- DCFS Training Academy: Investing in employee development and preparedness so staff have the tools and training they need to do this important work.
Helping Families and Finding Forever Homes
Every child deserves the chance to grow up in a family. DCFS is focused on keeping children safely with their families whenever possible, helping parents overcome challenges and finding permanent homes for children who cannot return home.
In 2025, DCFS:
- Served 2,972 families in their homes.
- Safely reunified 2,118 children with their families.
- Certified 1,013 new foster homes.
- Helped 634 children achieve permanency through adoption.
In federal fiscal year 2026, more than half of children entering foster care were reunified with their families, reflecting the importance of supporting families and helping children safely return home.
Through A Home for Every Child, Louisiana is working toward having a certified foster home available for every child in foster care. HomeReady supports that goal by making it easier for families to begin the certification process.
Last week, DCFS partnered with Focus on the Family for Hope Starts Here: A Faithful Home for Every Child, bringing more than 100 pastors, church leaders and ministry leaders from across Louisiana together at Bethany Church in Baton Rouge. The event challenged faith communities to take p ractical steps to support and strengthen our kinship and foster families, and help our children find lasting connections.
Strengthening Safety and Partnerships
DCFS is strengthening child safety practices, accountability and community partnerships to improve outcomes for children and families.
- Stronger legal partnerships: Establishing new agreements with district attorneys across Louisiana to expand legal representation in Child in Need of Care cases.
- Continuous quality improvement: Developing a dedicated team to strengthen child welfare practices and outcomes.
- A Culture Reset: Advancing the “Own the Outcome” approach, issuing uniforms to frontline staff and implementing electronic visit verification.
- Community support: Developing a new partnership strategy for Care Kits and confirming that Vector Solutions and SafeSchools training meets Louisiana’s mandated reporter training requirements.
- Safe Sleep Awareness Month: Partnering with Governor Jeff Landry’s Office and the Louisiana Department of Health to help families understand safe sleep practices that can protect infants and save lives.
Moving Louisiana Forward
DCFS is turning progress into action — modernizing technology, strengthening its workforce, supporting families and building stronger partnerships to help more children grow up in safe, permanent homes.
As Secretary Harris has emphasized, DCFS cannot do this work alone. Every child deserves a family and a future. That means giving families the support they need, helping caregivers open their homes and bringing communities together around a shared mission.
The progress is real, and the work continues. Together, we can build a stronger child welfare system and a brighter future for Louisiana’s children and families!
View the presentation to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare here.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Public Affairs Director Lester Duhé at [email protected] or 225-394-3139. For more information, visit dcfs.la.gov.