In the status quo, the primary system of caring for displaced children is state- or privately funded institutions such as orphanages.
For the purposes of the debate, the foster care system is a system where displaced children are placed in residential child care communities or the private homes of citizens approved by the state to care for the children. Foster parents receive a stipend from the state to help raise the children.
The goal is family reunification, not permanent placement unlike state- or privately funded institutions.