The National Foster Care Data System Offers Limited Information, but Shows Thousands of These Children Enter Foster Care Annually

HHS data provided by states identified at least several thousand children  nationwide who entered foster care due to the incarceration of a parent in  a recent year, but this does not include the total population of foster care  children with incarcerated parents.   When a parent is incarcerated sometime after the child enters foster  care. The fact that foster care children of incarcerated parents are not a well-  identified population nationally precludes analyzing those children’s  characteristics and experiences, or determining whether they differ from  other foster care children in terms of their backgrounds, case  management, or outcomes. Strategies for Preserving Families Include Flexibility in Timelines for Terminating Parental Rights, Programs for Parents, and Interagency Collaboration

In our examination of 10 states and their child welfare and corrections  agencies, we found states employed a number of strategies to support  family ties for all children of incarcerated parents, including some  strategies designed specifically for children in foster care. Colorado does not require courts to  consider the fact that the child has been in foster care for 15 of the  most recent 22 months when deciding whether to terminate parental  rights if the reason for the child’s length of stay is due to  circumstances beyond the parent’s control, such as the parent’s  incarceration “for a reasonable period of time.”
While many of the state child welfare officials we spoke to said that  federal timelines were difficult to meet for parents serving lengthier  sentences, many state and local child welfare officials as well as child  advocacy representatives did not think that such timelines should be  changed specifically for incarcerated parents. HHS and DOJ Provide Some Relevant Information and Assistance, but State Agencies Are Not Always Aware of These Resources

HHS and DOJ each provide information and assistance to child welfare  and corrections agencies related to children with incarcerated parents,  albeit not usually focused on foster care children in particular. Both HHS and DOJ post information on  their websites relevant to practitioners working with children or their  incarcerated parents. Although the Second  Chance Act gives DOJ discretionary authority to collect and disseminate  information on best practices in collaboration between state corrections  and welfare agencies, DOJ has not taken initiative in this area. BOP has also not developed any protocols to the federal prisons under its  own jurisdiction for working with child welfare agencies and their staff. Moreover, a number of child welfare officials, local  caseworkers, and dependency court judges told us that it can be  particularly difficult to establish appropriate contact with federal prisons  and several said that more collaboration from federal prisons would help  facilitate their work with foster care children with incarcerated parents. This is in keeping with one of BOP’s strategic planning goals that  aims to build partnerships with other entities to help improve the  effectiveness of its services and promote reintegration of offenders into  communities. Officials said that  corrections agencies would benefit from practices that could improve  prison visits for foster care children, tools that could facilitate  communication between child welfare and corrections staff, and ways to  share their data on affected families. Recommendations

We are making two recommendations to the Secretary of Health and  Human Services:  1. For example, HHS could take steps to update and more centrally organize relevant  information posted on the Child Welfare Information Gateway,  which is meant to serve as a comprehensive information resource  for the child welfare field, such as by regularly updating the  information listed under the Gateway’s relevant topic areas (e.g.,  “Children in Out-of-Home-Care With Incarcerated Parents”) with  links to more recent material posted on other HHS-supported  websites; identify or provide additional information on promising  approaches, such as those listed by the Office of Assistant  Secretary for Planning and Evaluation;   use relevant findings from the CFSR process as an opportunity to  remind states about available resources and post information on  promising approaches identified in the reviews; or facilitate awareness among all child welfare agencies about HHS’s  available resources through an e-mail or a teleconference/webinar  that would allow state and local agencies to share information on  practices or strategies. Specifically, we    examined pertinent data from two federal data sources;  conducted phone interviews with 10 state child welfare and  corrections agencies and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and  reviewed relevant state laws and policies pertaining to children in  foster care with incarcerated parents; conducted site visits in 4 of the 10 phone interview states; and conducted interviews with federal agencies, as well as professionals  from a range of national organizations, including family resource  centers, corrections associations, and child welfare organizations. State Phone Interviews

We administered structured telephone interviews to both the state child  welfare and corrections agencies in 10 selected states.
Why GAO Did This Study

Federal law sets timelines for states' decisions about placing foster care children in permanent homes, and, in some cases, for filing to terminate parental rights. Some policymakers have questioned the reasonableness of these timelines for children of incarcerated parents and expressed interest in how states work with these families. GAO was asked to examine: (1) the number of foster care children with incarcerated parents, (2) strategies used by child welfare and corrections agencies in selected states that may support contact or reunification, and (3) how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have helped these agencies support affected children and families. GAO analyzed national data, reviewed federal policies, interviewed state child welfare and corrections officials in 10 selected states that contain almost half of the nation's prison and foster care populations, and visited local child welfare agencies and prisons.

What GAO Found

Foster care children with an incarcerated parent are not a well-identified population, although they are likely to number in the tens of thousands. HHS data collected from states show that, in 2009 alone, more than 14,000 children entered foster care due at least partly to the incarceration of a parent. This may be an undercount, however, due to some underreporting from states and other factors. For instance, the data do not identify when a parent is incarcerated after the child entered foster care--a more common occurrence, according to case workers GAO interviewed. HHS is currently developing a proposal for new state reporting requirements on all foster care children; however, officials had not determined whether these new requirements would include more information collected from states on children with incarcerated parents. In 10 selected states, GAO found a range of strategies that support family ties. Some state child welfare agencies have provided guidance and training to caseworkers for managing such cases; and local agencies have worked with dependency courts to help inmates participate in child welfare hearings by phone or other means. For their part, some corrections agencies ease children's visits to prisons with special visitation hours and programs. In several cases, corrections agencies and child welfare agencies have collaborated, which has resulted in some interagency training for personnel, the creation of liaison staff positions, and video visitation facilitated by non-profit providers. HHS and DOJ each provide information and assistance to child welfare and corrections agencies on behalf of these children and families. For example, both federal agencies post information on their websites for practitioners working with children or their incarcerated parents, with some specific to foster care. The HHS information, however, was not always up to date or centrally organized, and officials from most of the state child welfare and corrections agencies GAO interviewed said they would benefit from information on how to serve these children. Further, DOJ has not developed protocols for federal prisons under its own jurisdiction for working with child welfare agencies and their staff, although GAO heard from some state and local child welfare officials that collaboration between child welfare and corrections agencies would facilitate their work with foster care children and their parents. This would also be in keeping with a DOJ agency goal to build partnerships with other entities to improve services and promote reintegration of offenders into communities.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that HHS improve its data on the foster care children of incarcerated parents and that it more systematically disseminate information to child welfare agencies. GAO also recommends that DOJ consider ways to promote collaboration between corrections and child welfare agencies, including establishing protocols for federal prisons to facilitate communication between these entities. HHS and DOJ agreed with GAO's recommendations.