Maryland Department of Human Services and House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk Host First Child Welfare Legislative Summit in Annapolis
November 13, 2026
Media Contact:
Lilly Price, Press Secretary
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 443-965-1265
ANNAPOLIS, MD — On Tuesday, the Maryland Department of Human Services partnered with House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and Casey Family Programs to host the first-ever Child Welfare Legislative Summit. The event brought together practitioners, policymakers, service providers, and advocates to highlight the evidence-based practices that serve as the foundation for Maryland’s child welfare reform agenda and the shared responsibility to sustain progress in serving Maryland’s young people.
During the summit legislators and practitioners shared important updates and opportunities for continued collaboration on key child welfare priorities including ending pediatric hospital overstays, enforcing the statewide ban on placements in unlicensed settings, continuing to place more young people with family, and expanding placement options for youth in out-of-home (foster) care.
The following participants offered reflections on the event:
“Ensuring our young people are loved and protected is not a left versus right issue. It is a matter of common humanity. While we are making important strides supporting children in foster care, we must also acknowledge there is more work to do to reduce hospital overstays, aid at-risk youth, support kinship care, and ensure we have the resources and capacity to give all of our children and their families the support they need. The Maryland General Assembly values its partnership with the governor and agency leaders to build an even stronger, more responsive child welfare system.”
Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk
“We are proud of the progress we have made with our legislative partners toward building a child welfare system that supports all young people in realizing their full potential. Together, we will continue to increase the number of youth placed with family and ensure that every young person in out-of-home care has access to the services and support they need to thrive. As a former kinship caregiver myself, this work is personal to me. And our team will not rest until every child in Maryland is safe, thriving in a permanent home, and surrounded by a loving family.”
Acting Secretary of Human Services Stacy L. Rodgers
“Working in partnership, we are improving outcomes for young people and families in out-of-home care. Together, we are making good on our promise to end hospital overstays, placing even more young people with family, expanding placement options for our most at-risk youth, and ensuring every young person in Maryland can realize their full potential.”
Delegate Heather Bagnell, District 33C, Chair, House Health and Government Operations Committee
“As a child care provider, I know firsthand how vital it is to ensure all young people in out-of-home care are matched with the appropriate placements and services to address their unique needs. Maryland has made significant strides in this direction, but our work is far from done. I look forward to continuing to partner with DHS to make this vision a reality.”
Delegate Aletheia McCaskill, District 44B
“Growing up in foster care, I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to work with DHS and colleagues in the General Assembly to ensure young people today have the support and opportunity that I yearned for as a child. I look forward to continuing to partner with DHS and allies in the legislature to build an out-of-home care system where every young Marylander’s needs are met and dreams are supported.”
Delegate Jamila Woods, District 26
The summit builds on important programmatic, budgetary, and legislative reforms put in place since 2023 to address longstanding issues in Maryland’s foster care system.
Putting kinship care first to strengthen families and best serve young people
Thanks to Maryland’s 2024 Kinship Care Law and the Moore-Miller administration’s Family Matters initiative, the state has succeeded in placing more children than ever before in out-of-home (foster) care with family by blood or by choice. As of July 2026, the total number of youth living with kin has increased by more than 440 compared with before the 2024 law took effect. The kinship placement rate has increased by 46% over that time.
The growth in kinship care has been even more pronounced among younger children, with 50% of children in out-of-home care under age 10 living with kin as of July 2026. That’s a substantial increase from 34.5% as of July 2024.
As part of the Family Matters initiative, DHS removed barriers that made it difficult for kinship caregivers to become licensed, which is required both to care for DHS youth and to receive financial support. As a result, the percentage of licensed kinship caregivers increased dramatically from 25% in December 2024 to 88% as of September 2026. Due to licensing changes, DHS has invested an additional $5 million to assist kinship caregivers and ensure they have the support that they need.
Making meaningful and sustainable reforms to put an end to longstanding problems
After dramatically reducing the number of children in hotels over the past three years, DHS ceased the practice entirely in November 2025. The department also worked closely with the General Assembly to pass Kanaiyah’s Law and House Bill 1559, both of which will further strengthen the state’s child welfare system.
In addition to ending the decades-long practice of children staying in hotels, DHS, in partnership with sister agencies, also dramatically reduced the number of young people staying in hospitals for longer than is medically necessary by up to 65% over the past year. In the situations where pediatric overstays have occurred, the average length of such stays dropped by nearly 60% between August and November 2026.
The State of Maryland also recently hired a senior advisor for children and families to oversee the development of policy solutions to address the root causes that lead to pediatric hospital overstays. Chaired by the senior advisor, Maryland convened the first quarterly meeting of the Advisory Council on Maryland’s System of Care for Children, Youth, and Families, dedicated to addressing systemic barriers to optimize medical and behavioral health services for youth and children in and at risk of out-of-home placements.
Increasing placement capacity
DHS is able to eliminate longstanding practices that do not serve Maryland’s youth thanks to progress in prioritizing kinship care and a commitment to finally investing in increased provider capacity.
Working in partnership with the Maryland General Assembly, the Moore-Miller administration established statewide standards to ensure that youth with complex needs receive one-on-one care and invested in increased licensed out-of-home care capacity for young people to get the specialized help they need.
The Maryland Department of Human Services remains committed to strengthening and reforming child welfare in Maryland and will not rest until every child in our state is safe, thriving in a permanent home, and surrounded by a loving family.
About the Maryland Department of Human Services
The Maryland Department of Human Services is the state’s primary social services provider, serving more than one million Marylanders annually. Through its programs — including food assistance, cash support, child welfare, and energy assistance — we work to strengthen Maryland’s families and communities.
###