Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>A subset of older youth in the American foster care system have had so many bad things happen to them that they disconnect from society and bounce between foster homes, psychiatric hospitals, kinship care, homelessness, and juvenile detention. Deeply wounded by their circumstances, some are eventually placed in a Residential Treatment Center (RTC)––the least understood, most maligned, and most expensive level of foster care. Pain and Promise is about these kids, the system “outliers.” It showcases their voices, reveals the inside story about the residential treatment programs devoted to their care, and reflects on Nan Dale’s thirty years of child welfare experience, including her twenty-two years as CEO of the Children’s Village (CV) in New York. This book reimagines how to address a myriad of challenges and provide these kids with the opportunities they need and deserve. Aron Myers, a former resident of CV and now a clinical social worker and leadership trainer, helps bring the book’s many pieces together. New regulations and family support programs have improved the lives of many kids, but some have been damaged by one-size-fits-all policies and recent legislation that is pushing these programs into extinction and offering few good options. Scores of teenagers have been left homeless and alone. Pain and Promise addresses the complexity of foster care, especially residential treatment, and explores options to improve care for all children, including those dangerously disconnected from society, giving them a genuine shot at a safe and fulfilling future.</jats:p>