Child Welfare League of America
Professional services
UnclaimedA United States nonprofit that coordinates child-welfare organizations, supports agencies serving children and families, and advocates for national child-welfare policy.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is a United States nonprofit organization focused on child welfare, family services, child protection, foster care, adoption, and related social-service systems. Established in 1920 and formally beginning operations in New York City on January 2, 1921, it developed from earlier efforts to improve cooperation and standards among organizations serving children. It is generally described as the oldest national child-welfare organization in the United States. CWLA does not operate primarily as a consumer brand or commercial provider. Its role is that of a national coordinating, advocacy, professional-support, publishing, and policy organization. It works with public and private agencies, practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and other organizations involved in services for children and families. Its activities have included promoting standards for child care and placement, supporting professional education, publishing research and practice materials, and lobbying on child-protection and child-welfare policy. The organization’s stated vision is that every child should grow up in a safe, loving, and stable family, while its broad public-policy objective has been expressed as making children a national priority. The organization’s institutional origins lie in the Progressive Era. The 1909 White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children brought together child-welfare advocates from across the country and helped establish a national framework for discussion. In 1915, Carl Christian Carstens presented a report calling for cooperation among child-helping agencies, community planning, and common standards of care. These concerns led to the Bureau for the Exchange of Information among Child Helping Agencies, created with support from the Russell Sage Foundation. The bureau became an independent nonprofit association in 1917, and, after further national conferences and financial assistance from the Commonwealth Fund, it was reorganized as the CWLA in 1920. At its formation, CWLA was a federation of 65 service-providing organizations. Under Carstens’s leadership, it became an influential voice in the development of regulations and professional norms, particularly in child placement and adoption. The organization’s history also includes international comparative work: during Loula Friend Dunn’s tenure as vice president from 1940 to 1950, CWLA representatives toured Canada and Great Britain to examine children’s welfare programs after the Second World War. One of the most consequential and controversial episodes in CWLA’s history was its participation with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Indian Adoption Project from 1958 to 1967. The project placed Native American children, many from economically disadvantaged families, with predominantly non-Native families. Although many removals were conducted through legal processes, the program and the broader practices surrounding it were later condemned for separating Indigenous children from their families and communities. Congressional hearings in 1978 characterized the large-scale separation of Indian children as profoundly destructive, contributing to the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act. In 2001, CWLA executive director Shay Bilchik issued a formal apology for the organization’s role, acknowledging the harm and bias reflected in the project. CWLA relocated its headquarters from New York City to Washington, D.C., in 1985, placing it closer to federal policymakers and national advocacy networks. In 2008, it supported a proposed congressional bill that would have established a 2010 White House Conference on Children and Youth; the bill did not pass. Its publishing work has included the journal Child Welfare, issued since 1948, as well as books and practice-oriented studies on foster care, adoption, outcome measurement, children with AIDS, gang violence, creativity, and safety in high-risk interventions. Through these activities, CWLA functions as a policy advocate, professional resource, and institutional network for the U.S. child-welfare field.
History
The Child Welfare League of America emerged from early twentieth-century efforts to create national cooperation and standards in services for dependent and vulnerable children. The 1909 White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children, convened by President Theodore Roosevelt, brought child-welfare advocates from across the United States into a shared national discussion. In 1915, Carl Christian Carstens argued that child-helping agencies needed better information exchange, community planning, and standards of care. His report helped lead to the Bureau for the Exchange of Information among Child Helping Agencies, established with support from the Russell Sage Foundation. The bureau became an independent nonprofit association in 1917. After additional national conferences and financial assistance from the Commonwealth Fund, the Child Welfare League of America was organized in 1920. It formally began work in New York City on January 2, 1921, with Carstens as chief executive. Initially a federation of 65 service-providing organizations, CWLA became a national institution concerned with child placement, adoption, foster care, child protection, and the quality and coordination of services. Carstens opposed reliance on orphanages and helped direct the organization toward regulation, family-based care, and professional standards. During the 1940s, CWLA also undertook comparative international work. Vice president Loula Friend Dunn served from 1940 to 1950, a period in which CWLA representatives visited Canada and Great Britain to assess children’s welfare systems after World War II. The organization subsequently continued to combine sector coordination with advocacy, publications, research, and support for practitioners and agencies. CWLA’s history includes a major institutional controversy involving Indigenous children. From 1958 through 1967, it operated the Indian Adoption Project jointly with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The project sought to place Native American children, particularly children from poor households, with mainstream American families. Later critics argued that it contributed to the removal of Indigenous children from their families, cultures, and communities. Although many cases involved formal legal processes, the broader pattern of separation was condemned in later government and congressional discussions. The controversy contributed to the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978. In June 2001, executive director Shay Bilchik apologized on behalf of CWLA, stating that the organization’s involvement had been wrong and harmful and had reflected bias. In 1985, CWLA moved its headquarters from New York City to Washington, D.C. The relocation placed the organization near federal institutions and reinforced its role in national policy advocacy. In 2008, it backed a proposed bill to create a 2010 White House Conference on Children and Youth, but the legislation failed to pass. CWLA has also maintained a substantial publishing and knowledge-development role. Its journal, Child Welfare, has been published since 1948. CWLA and its publishing operations have issued studies and books addressing foster-care practice, independent adoption, child-welfare outcome measurement, children with AIDS, gang violence, creativity across the life span, and safety in high-risk interventions. The organization therefore operates as a nonprofit professional and policy network rather than as a conventional commercial brand: its principal constituencies are child-serving agencies, professionals, policymakers, researchers, families, and advocates.
- 2008
Support for proposed White House children’s conference
[1]CWLA supported legislation proposing a 2010 White House Conference on Children and Youth; the bill did not pass.
- 2001
Formal apology for Indian Adoption Project
[1]Executive director Shay Bilchik apologized for CWLA’s role in the project and acknowledged its harmful effects and underlying bias.
- 1985
Headquarters moves to Washington, D.C.
[1]CWLA relocated its national headquarters from New York City to Washington, D.C.
- 1978
Indian Child Welfare Act follows congressional scrutiny
[1]Congressional hearings condemned the large-scale separation of Native children from their families, contributing to enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
- 1967
Indian Adoption Project ends
[1]The formal project concluded, although CWLA continued to assist Native American adoptions afterward.
- 1958
Indian Adoption Project begins
[1]CWLA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs launched a program placing Native American children with predominantly non-Native families.
- 1948
Child Welfare journal begins publication
[1]CWLA’s professional journal Child Welfare began publication and continued as a major outlet for child-welfare knowledge.
- 1921
Formal operations begin in New York City
[1]CWLA began formal work on January 2 in New York City as a federation of 65 service-providing organizations.
- 1920
Child Welfare League of America organized
[1]With Commonwealth Fund assistance, the national child-welfare organization was formed under the leadership of Carl Christian Carstens.
- 1917
Bureau becomes an independent nonprofit
[1]The Bureau for the Exchange of Information among Child Helping Agencies separated from its original foundation sponsorship and became an independent nonprofit association.
Products and positioning
A national nonprofit infrastructure and advocacy organization for the United States child-welfare sector, combining policy influence, professional standards, agency support, research, and publishing.
Professional journal · 1948
Child Welfare
CWLA’s long-running professional journal, first published in 1948, presents research, policy discussion, and practice-oriented material for people working in child welfare and related social services.
Research publication · 1972
Foster Care of Children: Nurture and Treatment
A CWLA study published through Columbia University Press that examines foster care, including the care and treatment needs of children placed outside their original homes.
Adoption research · 1978
Adoptions Without Agencies
A study of independent adoptions published by CWLA, reflecting the organization’s historical interest in adoption systems, practice, and the relationship between families and child-serving agencies.
Practice and evaluation publication · 1986
Outcome Measures for Child Welfare Services
A work addressing theories and applications for evaluating child-welfare services and measuring outcomes, consistent with CWLA’s professional standards and evidence-oriented mission.
Child-welfare publication · 1990
Courage to Care
A publication focused on responses to the crisis affecting children with AIDS, illustrating CWLA’s attention to emerging public-health and social-service challenges.
Children’s book · 1993
The Kissing Hand
A children’s title published through CWLA that extends its publishing activity beyond professional research into materials relevant to children and families.
Youth and violence-prevention publication · 1998
Peace in the Streets
A book addressing ways to break cycles of gang violence, connected to CWLA’s broader concern with youth safety, prevention, and community-based services.
Controversies
2001
Formal apology for historical harm
Executive director Shay Bilchik apologized for CWLA’s role in the Indian Adoption Project, recognizing that the program was harmful and reflected bias even though it had been regarded as mainstream and well-intentioned at the time.
1958
Participation in the Indian Adoption Project
CWLA’s joint adoption initiative with the Bureau of Indian Affairs placed Native American children with predominantly non-Native families. It was later criticized as part of a wider system that separated Indigenous children from their families, cultures, and communities, despite the use of legal processes in many individual cases.
Marketing campaigns
- 2008White House Conference on Children and Youth proposal
United States
CWLA supported congressional legislation proposed by Representative Chaka Fattah to create a White House Conference on Children and Youth for 2010.
Outcome. The proposed legislation did not pass.
- 1958Indian Adoption Project
United States
CWLA jointly administered a program with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that placed Native American children, particularly children from poor families, with predominantly non-Native adoptive families. The initiative later became a major subject of criticism over the separation of Indigenous children from their families and communities.
Outcome. The formal program ended in 1967. Subsequent criticism, congressional hearings, and wider concern about Indigenous child removal contributed to the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978; CWLA later issued a formal apology.
- Make Children a National Priority
United States
CWLA’s central public-policy advocacy objective seeks to elevate children’s safety, well-being, and access to services in national policymaking.
Brand decisions
2001
Acknowledge and apologize for the Indian Adoption ProjectOtherBackground
Historical criticism and public scrutiny focused on the removal of Native American children and the project’s effects on Indigenous families and communities.
Action taken
Executive director Shay Bilchik issued a formal organizational apology and acknowledged the project’s harmful and biased character.
Aftermath
The apology became CWLA’s principal public acknowledgment of its historical role in the controversial adoption program.
1985
Move headquarters to Washington, D.C.StrategyBackground
CWLA sought to operate as a national policy and advocacy organization in the United States.
Action taken
The organization relocated its headquarters from New York City to Washington, D.C.
Aftermath
The move positioned CWLA closer to federal policymakers and national child-welfare advocacy networks.
1920
Create a permanent national child-welfare federationStrategyBackground
Child-helping organizations lacked sufficient coordination, shared information, community planning, and common standards.
Action taken
CWLA was organized as a national federation of service-providing organizations with a broad child-welfare remit.
Aftermath
The organization became a national voice on child placement, adoption, regulation, professional practice, and child-protection policy.
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