Thoughts on public policy to increase family-based care and decrease institutional care.

Many countries are in the earliest stage of reforming the care sector. Reformers face challenges as they develop public policy to expand family based care and shrink institutional care. To mention a few: installing the keystone component of care reform - a system to monitor and support children post-institutionalization; enabling children to grow up where they belong, in families; meeting children's basic needs where they should live, in their own communities; meeting children's basic needs where many actually live, in institutions; strengthening the social service workforce; and elevating the political priority of poor and vulnerable children through evidence-based advocacy. Care reform must be sold in the political marketplace. Evidence-based, tactical advocacy is key to reforming care policy and winning the public resources needed to gear-up programs for the care, protection and development of vulnerable children.