Addressing the Foster Care Crisis: A Real Solution to End the Trafficking Pipeline

America’s child welfare system is failing on a catastrophic scale, but the good news is that the path forward is clear, proven, and ready to implement right now. By combining strategic deregulation, mandatory adoption of modern real-time tracking technology, and an aggressive focus on placing children in stable, loving homes, the gaps that traffickers exploit can be closed and dramatically improve outcomes for the 360,000 children in foster care. The tools exist, the research is conclusive, and the political will to fight for victims is finally aligned under an administration committed to efficiency and results. What has been missing is decisive action—this is the moment to deliver it.

The policy roadmap is straightforward and urgent. President Trump made history on November 13th by signing the Executive Order on "Fostering the Future for American Children and Families", and launching the "Fostering the Future" initiative led by First Lady Melania Trump. This is a major step in protecting children by closing loopholes in the foster care system and elevating youth transitioning out of the system through scholarships and educational opportunities. The Trump Administration has been revolutionary in addressing the exploitation of children in foster care, and more agencies and organizations should follow the President and First Lady's lead.

For example, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should use targeted deregulation to remove outdated rules that block innovation and issue a superseding rule requiring real-time reporting and data sharing nationwide. Congress must then codify these reforms into law by 2027 at the latest. With more than $7 billion spent annually on a broken system and a historic initiative focused on government efficiency under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), there is no excuse for further delay.

The heart of the solution lies in a single, nationwide, real-time data platform: the HMK Interactive Statewide Integrated Information System (SIIS). This secure, cloud-based system would replace the current patchwork of incompatible state and county databases and end the two-year reporting lag that leaves children invisible. Caseworkers would have instant access to a child’s full history, no matter where they move; intelligent matching would dramatically improve placement quality, and runaway or missing-child alerts would trigger immediately. Research already proves the impact: children with only one caseworker have a 74% chance of permanent placement, compared to just 5% for those with three or more. A unified tech backbone works to close the pipeline, keeps children visible to authorities, and slams the door on traffickers who thrive on chaos and delay in reporting.

Stable, loving homes are the most powerful anti-trafficking measure. When children grow up in secure families instead of drifting through group or temporary homes, their risk of exploitation plummets. Runaways—by far the most vulnerable—are trafficked within 24–48 hours of leaving care, and 95% of domestic sex trafficking now begins on social media and gaming platforms that predators use to groom isolated kids. By using real-time data to speed up adoptions (projected 25% increase) and shift an additional 20% of children into proven house-parent models, we can move nearly half of all foster youth into environments where they are loved, monitored, and safe. Strengthening families isn’t just compassionate—it is the single most effective way to protect children from predators.

America has spent decades and billions of dollars managing foster-care failure instead of fixing it. The result: tens of thousands of children vanish every year, and 60% of rescued trafficking victims come from the very system meant to protect them. But the collapse of the foster care collapse can be reversed. A unified real-time technology platform, smarter placements into permanent loving families, and decisive executive and legislative action can transform foster care from a national disgrace into a national success story. Under an America First agenda, protecting our own vulnerable children is not optional—it is the most urgent domestic priority we have. Lawmakers must act immediately to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected and that human traffickers are held accountable.