Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the extent to which the incentive funding structure of federal child welfare services grants encouraged states to implement reforms to reduce widespread abuses of the foster care system.
GAO found that: (1) the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) revised grant eligibility requirements to encourage states to revise programs to meet 18 standards involving individual case development, review, and dispositional hearings for foster children; (2) 48 states met minimum ACYF compliance standards, while 31 states reached maximum standards, which did not require states to meet all 18 elements; (3) 27 states meeting minimum standards experienced problems in timely completing case reviews; (4) the lack of a systematic evaluation of the reforms' effects has prevented linking the reforms to the significant decrease of the estimated national case load and median length of stay for foster children; (5) although litigation against welfare agencies has cited the reform legislation and provided another legal avenue for monitoring foster care, federal incentives were still needed to ensure the briefest possible temporary placements, the fewest possible temporary placements, frequent contact between foster parents, caseworkers, and natural parents, health and educational screening, and states' continued compliance with the reforms; and (6) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not yet established a legislatively mandated national information system which could help to obtain and analyze current national information about state and local agency foster care practices and procedures.
