Recent Trends Have Led to a Foster Care Crisis

Current trends in the number and needs of foster children have led to a crisis in the child welfare system. 6.) Resources Have Not Kept Pace With Service Needs

The child welfare system has been under great pressure to meet increased demands. States and localities provide the majority of funding for foster care and child welfare services. Federal foster care funds cannot be used to pay for most child welfare services, and available state funds are increasingly required for investigations of abuse and neglect reports. Other resource constraints have included problems recruiting and retaining caseworkers, shortages of available foster parents, and difficulties obtaining needed services from systems outside the control of child welfare. States Struggle to Meet Caseload and Resource Challenges

In response to the escalating pressure on the foster care system, states have adopted various measures to meet changing foster care needs. In 1993, 48 states offered some family preservation services. Kinship care is less costly than traditional foster homes in those states where relatives are ineligible for state foster care payments. First, officials agreed that capping the block grant would control federal foster care expenditures and might result in savings at that level. 4

Recent GAO Reports and Testimonies on Child Protection, Foster Care, Adoption, and Related Topics

	Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

		Child Abuse: Prevention Programs Need Greater Emphasis (GAO/HRD-92-99, Aug. 3, 1992)

Child abuse prevention programs have been shown to be effective and may pay for themselves by lowering the social costs resulting from child abuse.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO reviewed the foster care system and related child welfare services, focusing on: (1) recent trends in the characteristics of the foster care population; (2) whether resources for foster care and child welfare services have kept pace with changing needs; and (3) how states are responding to current foster care and other service needs.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) the sharp increase in the number of child abuse and neglect reports and foster care caseloads have increased the demand for child welfare services and have greatly restricted resources for those services; (2) resource constraints have resulted in restrictions on the use of federal foster care funds, diversion of funds to child abuse and neglect investigations, caseworker recruiting and retention problems, shortages of foster parents, and difficulties in obtaining outside services; (3) states have adopted various cost saving methods to meet their service needs while protecting children; (4) family preservation services and kinship care reduce costs while maintaining family ties; (5) specialized foster care for emotionally disturbed and medically fragile children is less costly than institutionalization; and (6) while proposed legislation creating a block grant for child welfare services and foster care would give states greater flexibility in allocating funds to match needs and reduce administrative costs, Congress must consider provisions that reflect lessons learned from earlier attempts to provide block grants for child welfare services.