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Posts tagged
'foster care'

Governor’s working group issues suggestions to improve Arkansas’s foster care system

A working group released a list of 11 recommendations on Monday to improve the state’s foster system, which has long suffered from staffing and home shortages.
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Arkansas’s short-staffed Division of Children and Family Services manages fewer foster children

A staffing shortage in Arkansas’s foster care system has led to higher caseloads and more turnover, according to the most recent report from the Division of Children and Family Services.
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Young adults ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system struggle to adapt

Because it’s uncommon for older teenagers in foster care to be adopted, many are emancipated at age 18 or 21 without ever finding a permanent home. In the last state fiscal year, 235 young people “aged out” of the Arkansas system. Too old to be a ward of the state but unprepared to be cast out on their own, they entered adult life highly disadvantaged.

LR Air Force Base may be used to house immigrant children after Trump border policy takes effect

The Washington Post reports that Little Rock Air Force Base is one of four military installations that may be used as temporary housing for children removed from their families due to the Trump administration's plans to begin indiscriminately prosecuting all illegal border crossings.
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DHS report shows improvements in Arkansas foster care system, worker caseload

The number of kids in foster care is dropping, caseloads are decreasing, open foster homes are increasing, and the percentage of kids placed with their own relatives (instead of a foster family in the broader system) has doubled since 2015. That's good news.

Child welfare too often about 'punishing parents,' DCFS consultant tells legislators

Reforms promised by the Division of Children and Family Services are "absolutely necessary," the president of DCFS's independent consultant told a legislative committee this morning. But they still may not be enough to control the state's alarming growth in foster care cases.
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A new day for child welfare?

After strategizing for months, DHS officials have a plan to address Arkansas's foster care crisis.

DHS officials outline ambitious plan to reform state's child welfare system

Coupled with the governor's announcement last week of his intention to seek a $39 million boost in DCFS funding over the next two years, this plan represents a concerted, ambitious effort to improve child welfare outcomes in Arkansas.
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State reports on steps to 'stabilize' foster care system

The state Human Services Department reported today on initial steps to "stabilize" the foster care system and released a report, "Moving Beyond Crisis," on a system  now caring for 5,200 children.

Governor's proposed budget includes major increase in foster care spending

Gov. Asa Hutchinson presented the legislature with his proposed budget for the state of Arkansas this morning, outlining a plan that would include a $50 million tax cut, a significant increase in child welfare spending and no money added to the General Improvement Fund.
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Arkansas's foster care surge due to 'questionable removals' of kids, DHS consultant finds

Hornby Zeller Associates found that "the increase in foster care is due largely to two factors: DCFS removing more children [from their homes] immediately upon investigation and the courts ordering removals against the recommendations of the agency."

If private option ends, state budget would face major cuts for foster care

If the state budget is slashed in order to pay for ending the private option, the state's foster children could suffer.
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