Each year approximately 300,000 children are removed from their families and placed in foster care. Although the child welfare system offers a safe haven from abusive families, children in foster care too often slip through the cracks of an overburdened system. The first section of the guide highlights three main areas where improvement is needed to improve the foster care experience for children and families: (1) improve the routine monitoring of key indicators of healthy development for all children in foster care; (2) improve system integration to ensure all children and families receive needed services; and (3) improve case planning to focus on the individual needs of children and their families. Improved monitoring of the key indicators of healthy development is encouraged for all children in foster care. Recommendations include health screenings at entry and comprehensive pediatric assessments within 30 days of placement. Systems integration improvements include the recommendations to improve services to birth families and to tailor supports and services to the needs of foster families and kin caregivers. Greater focus on the individual needs of children and their families should target services at different age groups and should provide younger children with greater access to preschool programs and older children with greater access to educational and transitional supports. The second section provides examples of innovative reform efforts from around the country, including the Illinois Home of Relative Reform Program and New York’s aggressive program to build accountability within its child welfare system. The third section of the guide offers a set of resources that include State-by-State data on the number of children in foster care in 2002, program profiles from around the country, and listings of organizations, Web sites, experts, and current policymakers. Tables, figures, references