hack foster care

Over the past 18 months, four foster care “hackathons” have explored how technology could be optimized to streamline child welfare systems and better serve youth and families. During that time, events in Washington, D.C.,

David* is a foster youth alumni living in Washington, D.C. When he was eight years old, a neighbor saw him running in the street and called Child Protective Services. David was placed in foster care, and for the next ten years, he bounced from home to home, eventually losing faith in finding a permanent family, or being reunited with his biological caregiver.

On May 26, around 150 child welfare professionals, former foster youth technologists, philanthropists and various technocrats filed into a windowless auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just adjacent to the White House.

Tomorrow kicks off the first ever White House Foster Care & Technology Hackathon, and participants’ home court, the web, is buzzing with excitement as leaders in technology and child welfare leaders from around the country head to Washington to #HackFosterCare.