Community Voices Guide Foster Care Improvements at Baton Rouge Listening Session with DCFS Secretary Harris

Baton Rouge, La. —  The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) continued its Foster Care Community Listening Tour with a gathering in Baton Rouge, where foster caregivers, advocates, and community partners shared their lived experiences to help guide improvements to the child welfare system.

The event focused on what families face during difficult moments and what children need when they must temporarily live outside their homes. The Baton Rouge region received 6,525 reports of suspected abuse or neglect in 2025. When families are in crisis, foster homes provide children with stability and care while parents receive the support they need to safely reunify. For some children, returning home is not possible, and adoption offers the safest and most permanent path forward. Foster families partner with DCFS to help children move toward the permanent homes that are best suited to their needs.

The Baton Rouge region supported 721 children in foster care during 2025, with an average of 463 children in care each month. Local foster caregivers helped 214 children return safely to their families and finalized 42 adoptions. These outcomes reflect the strength and compassion of the Baton Rouge families who step forward to care for children in their community. 

The Baton Rouge region continues to face a significant shortage of foster homes. The current home-to-child ratio is 0.26 to 1, meaning there is only about 1 foster home available for every 3.8 children in care. This shortage shows how urgently more foster families are needed across the six parishes the region serves. The session is part of DCFS’s broader work, directed by Governor Landry’s Executive Order 25-130, to modernize Louisiana’s child welfare system and address critical needs such as the regional foster home shortage. 

“Baton Rouge showed us what it looks like when a community comes together with honesty and heart,” said DCFS Secretary Harris. “The stories shared today remind us that foster care is about standing with families during their hardest moments so children can feel safe and supported. The insights we heard will guide our work to strengthen stability, reduce unnecessary moves, and make sure every child has the chance to grow in a home where they feel anchored and cared for.” 

DCFS will continue gathering input from communities across the state throughout the Foster Care Community Listening Tour. The department remains committed to building a foster care system that prioritizes stability, family, and the voices of those with lived experience. With the support of caregivers, partners, and residents, Louisiana can ensure that every child has a safe place to stay and every family has a path toward healing.

Here is how the community can help support children and families right now: 

• Become a foster caregiver or explore other ways to help: http://dcfs.la/lahome
• Track Louisiana’s progress on foster home availability through the "A Home for Every Child" Meter: http://dcfs.la/fchomes