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Welcome to Building Future Families

Building Future Families (BFF) is a Texas-based, non-partisan nonprofit dedicated to strengthening, supporting, and advocating for foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers. Since 2015, we have served as a safe, judgment-free space where caregivers can share their experiences, find community, and elevate their voices to drive meaningful change in the child welfare system.

Founded
2015

Caregiver-led

Focus
Texas

Statewide

Priorities
5

2026–2028

Texas State Capitol — photo: David Aguilar

Our Mission

To empower caregivers through advocacy, education, and community support—ensuring every child and every family is seen, heard, respected and supported.

Our Vision

A Texas where foster, adoptive, and kinship families receive the transparency, resources, and respect they deserve, and where children experience safety, stability, and true belonging.

Programs

What we do

Advocacy grounded in lived experience—transparent, steady, and unafraid of hard conversations.

Policy

Advocacy Priorities (2026–2028)

Strategic focus for the coming biennium.

Transparency & Accountability

Ensuring caregivers receive complete, accurate information about children’s histories, needs, and services.

Post-Adoption Support

Advocating for long-term, trauma-informed services for adoptive families, including mental health care, crisis support, and educational resources.

Kinship Equity

Promoting fair compensation, training, and support for kinship caregivers who step in to keep children connected to family and culture.

System Reform

Working to address gaps in DFPS, CPS, and private agency practices that place families at risk and compromise child safety.

Caregiver Voice in Policy

Ensuring lived experience is represented in legislative hearings, advisory councils, and statewide decision-making.

From leadership

A Message from Our Founder & CEO, Denise Blakney

Building Future Families was born from a truth I could no longer ignore: families in the Texas child welfare system were hurting in silence. Foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers were carrying impossible burdens with too little information, too few resources, and almost no voice in the decisions that shaped their lives.

I founded Building Future Families because families deserved a place where they could speak openly without fear. A place where truth wasn’t punished. A place where caregivers could find community, clarity, and the courage to advocate for themselves and their children.

If you are a caregiver reading this, I want you to know: your story matters. Your voice matters. And you do not have to carry this alone.

Building Future Families is built by caregivers, for caregivers.

Non-partisan advocacy for foster, adoptive, and kinship families in Texas.