Reports on Recruiting and Retaining Foster Parents

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released two reports identifying the challenges in recruiting and retaining foster parents and offering its findings and recommendations. In summary, the OIG found that the states' recruitment methods are not focused on finding foster parents who are willing and able to care for the most challenging children. Instead, they are more general in nature, which attracts parents who ultimately do not accept the special needs children. In addition, the report found that the states are under-utilizing their foster parents as recruitment tools. Lastly, foster parents are frustrated that they have no voice in many of the important decisions regarding the lives of the foster children in their care.

For the full report, visit: http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports, and enter the appropriate reference number. Recruiting Foster Parents report: OEI-07-00-00600. Retaining Foster Parents report: OEI-07-00-00601.