The Children’s Bureau (CB) is the first federal agency within the U.S. Government to focus exclusively on improving the lives of children and families. Since its creation by President Taft in 1912, CB has tackled some of our Nation’s most pressing social issues, including the following:
- Infant and maternal death
- Child labor
- Group homes
- Child health and recreation
- Delinquency and juvenile courts
- Family economic security
- Children who have been abused and neglected
- Foster care
In each of these areas, CB has provided groundbreaking leadership and garnered critical resources to improve the lives of children and families.
As part of its centennial celebration in 2012, CB researched and produced a written history of its first 100 years. The resulting e-book combines text with historical images to tell the story of a small federal agency that took on some of the most devastating social problems of the time, including high infant mortality, child labor, and child abuse and neglect. The e-book puts this history in the context of changing world events and social movements. It also offers a look at some of the determined leaders who helped shape CB to be what it is today—a strong advocate for America’s children and families.
The Children’s Bureau Legacy: Ensuring the Right to Childhood
This e-book offers a decade-by-decade look at the agency's history. The images and brief text take you on a journey through the key projects, initiatives, milestones, and political and social events through 2012 that shaped the evolution of child welfare in America.
Child Welfare Programs: A Timeline
This timeline reviews laws related to child welfare programs from 1935 to 2021, separating out legislation by the following categories: foster care and child protection, permanency, prevention, and services for youth.
The Story of the Children’s Bureau
This brochure explores CB's 100-year history of improving the lives of children and families through collaboration, research, assistance to states and tribes, public awareness campaigns, and more. It is also available in Spanish .
History of the Children’s Bureau
This is a transcript of the September 2007 presentation "Justice, Not Pity: Julia Lathrop, First Chief of the U.S. Children's Bureau." An audio file is also available.