Iowa Code § 237.2: Purpose.

It is the policy of this state to provide appropriate protection for children who are separated from the direct personal care of their parents, relatives, fictive kin, or guardians and, as a result, are subject to difficulty in achieving appropriate physical, mental, emotional, educational, or social development. This chapter shall be construed and administered to further that policy by assuring that child foster care is adequately provided by competently staffed and well-equipped child foster care facilities, including but not limited to residential treatment centers, group homes, and foster family homes.