The foster care system has experienced an unprecedented rise in the number of children in out-of-home care over the past 20 years. The system has also experienced significant changes in the policy framework guiding foster care practice, and ongoing organizational impediments that complicate efforts to serve the children in foster care. Agencies often have difficulty providing adequate, accessible, and appropriate services for the families in their care. Children of color, particularly African-American children, are disproportionately represented in foster care, a situation that raises questions about the equity of the foster care system and threatens the developmental progress of children of color. Foster families can find the experience overwhelming and frustrating, causing many to leave foster parenting within their first year. Organizational problems such as large caseloads, high staff turnover, and data limitations compromise efforts to adequately serve and monitor families. The challenges before the foster care system are numerous. Promising policies and practices can move the foster care system forward in the coming years. These policies and practices include strengthening families, supporting case workers, providing timely and adequate data, and infusing cultural competency throughout the system. Innovative models of family foster care that recognize the relational nature and community context of foster care hold promise for reinventing foster care. Two promising models are Family to Family and Shared Family Foster Care. These model programs encourage social workers and foster families to reach out to birth families with the mentoring, community support, and services they need to reunify with their children, while simultaneously providing out-of-home care for children. 79 endnotes