The United States Children's Bureau is a federal agency organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. The bureau's operations involve improving child abuse prevention, foster care, and adoption. The Children's Bureau was established in 1912 during an era of heightened concern for general social welfare issues in the United States. The legislation creating the agency was signed into law on April 9, 1912. The duties of the new agency were prescribed by the enacting legislation:
- "The said bureau shall investigate and report to said department upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth-rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting children in the several states and territories."
