Governor Greg Gianforte announced Monday that Montana has joined a Trump administration initiative aimed at improving outcomes for children in the foster care system, with state officials saying the effort will cut bureaucratic reporting requirements and give states more direct input over how child welfare performance is measured.

The announcement came at a press conference at the Montana State Capitol on June 1, with officials from both the state and federal government in attendance.

A Shifting Approach to Child Welfare Data

Under the arrangement, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services will dramatically scale back the volume of data it submits to the federal government. Rather than submitting hundreds of data points spread across the year, the state will report ten standardized metrics every month. The tradeoff, federal officials said, is that the data must be made available promptly — a change from the current practice of releasing figures years after collection.

DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton said the shift would help frontline workers respond in real time. “By measuring what drives better results for children and no longer relying on data that is several years old, we can respond more quickly when strategies are working and adjust when they are not, which is very, very exciting for our child welfare workforce,” he said.

Alex Adams, who serves as Assistant Secretary at the federal Administration for Children and Families, described the deal as a tradeoff between flexibility and accountability. “You’re getting record red tape relief, but in exchange, partnering states will be reporting monthly to us their ratio of foster homes to kids, along with some wraparound data that will demonstrate that they’re doing it safely,” Adams said.

States participating in the initiative also gain a larger voice in determining which additional data points get submitted to Washington, according to officials at the event.

Foster Care Numbers Down Sharply Under Gianforte

Administration officials pointed to significant reductions in the number of children in state custody since Gianforte took office. When he was inaugurated, roughly 3,300 children were in foster homes, and Montana was removing children from their families at one of the highest rates in the nation. That figure has since fallen to approximately 1,639 — a decline of nearly half. As of May 2025, more than 5,300 children had been placed with adoptive, kinship, or foster families.

Less than a decade ago, Montana’s rate of children in state custody ranked among the highest in the country. State officials credited a combination of policy changes and improved coordination for the reversal, though challenges remain. Montana currently has roughly 0.35 foster homes for every child in foster care — about in line with the national average — but officials said the state still needs to recruit approximately 600 additional families to meet present demand.

Licensing and Recruitment on the Agenda

Beyond the data reporting changes, state officials said they plan to accelerate the process for licensing prospective foster homes, with the goal of reducing the time it takes for interested families to become eligible to take in children. The state’s formal proposal under the partnership is due to federal authorities by June 12.

The initiative comes as the Gianforte administration has pursued a broader agenda of restructuring how state agencies interact with federal requirements. The administration has also recently raised alarms about above-normal wildfire danger across Montana this summer, reflecting an active summer policy season for the governor’s office.

What Comes Next

Montana’s partnership proposal must be submitted to the federal Administration for Children and Families by June 12. Once accepted, the state will begin reporting the condensed monthly metrics and gain expanded flexibility over additional reporting requirements. Officials did not specify a timeline for when changes to foster home licensing procedures would take effect.

The foster care initiative is part of the Trump administration’s broader push to give states more autonomy over federally supported social services programs. For Montana, which struggled for years with elevated child removal rates and strained placement capacity, officials framed the agreement as both a practical administrative reform and a continuation of progress already underway.