Safety in Out-of-Home Care

Photocopy Permission Granted for Internal Distribution © 2005 Child Welfare Institute. There are multiple tragedies when a child dies or is seriously injured due to acts or failure to act by an out-ofhome caretaker, or from others living in the placement, or from physical conditions in the placement. First, a child has died or been seriously injured, a tragedy in its own right. Second, the child is known to the child welfare system, the system tasked with protecting the child from just such events. Third, the child was removed from a family for reasons of safety and placed with another family, one that was presumed to be safe.