The youngest children in foster care suffer disproportionately. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (1997) attempted to provide greater safeguards for children, which led courts to push for earlier reunifications between foster children and their biological families. Although no one wants young children to languish in the foster care system, early reunification is not always beneficial to the children or their families, particularly when families receive little support. Reunifications should ideally occur only after the family has demonstrated growth and the ability to successfully meet their child's physical and emotional needs. Effective family support entails addressing the caregivers' own trauma and supporting them to make meaningful change.