Number of foster parents dwindling

The number of children who need foster care is far outpacing the number of available beds in foster homes, according to a report from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
The Star Tribune’s Brandon Stahl took a hard look at why there are more foster children than available homes, and part of the answer was startling: the Minnesota Legislature in 2015, passed some sweeping reforms after it was discovered that many children “fell through the cracks” when it came to protecting them from abusers.
Those reforms included funding more investigators for child protection cases, and that resulted in a 50 percent increase in the number of child protection cases taken on by agencies.
But where do those children go when they are taken from their homes?
According to Stahl’s report, the number of foster homes have increased by 10 percent since 2014, but that increase has not nearly kept pace with the number of children who need foster care.
And some foster care people are leaving the field, despite enjoying caring for children and knowing the great need there is for foster parents.
One such foster parent in Anoka County said she is quitting, because she is spending up to $400 out of her own pocket to cover costs not reimbursed by agencies.
Another foster parent is bothered by the lack of information that is given to foster parents. She claims an 8-month-old child was placed in her home without instructions regarding a serious medical condition. Five days after taking the infant in, she discovered medical equipment dropped off at her door. She said she had no idea that the child was supposed to be on oxygen 24 hours a day, and that it took her “a month to figure out his medical picture.”
Elsewhere in the article, it is reported that children are being left in hospitals because social workers simply cannot find placement for them.
It’s wonderful that the state of Minnesota realized that there was a dire lack of intervention in child protection in many areas, but it seemed to have forgotten that the situation doesn’t end when a child is removed from a traumatic or abusive situation.
And while the Department of Health would like to explore ways to recruit more foster parents, it is so busy trying to find homes for the children who need them that it doesn’t have the time.
Obviously, the issue needs more resources — not just at the time of intervention in an unsafe situation, but for the after care that is needed.
Let’s hope the 2017 Legislature finds the resources it needs to finish the reforms it started in 2015.