Department of Health and Human Services 

OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

JANET REHNQUIST 

Inspector General 

MAY 2002 

OEI-07-00-00600 

Recruiting 

Foster Parents 
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/ 

The mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), as mandated by Public Law 95-452, as amended, 

is to protect the integrity of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs, as well as 

the health and welfare of beneficiaries served by those programs. This statutory mission is carried out 

through a nationwide network of audits, investigations, and inspections conducted by the following 

operating components: 

Office of Audit Services 

The OIG's Office of Audit Services (OAS) provides all auditing services for HHS, either by conducting 

audits with its own audit resources or by overseeing audit work done by others. Audits examine the 

performance of HHS programs and/or its grantees and contractors in carrying out their respective 

responsibilities and are intended to provide independent assessments of HHS programs and operations 

in order to reduce waste, abuse, and mismanagement and to promote economy and efficiency 

throughout the Department. 

Office of Evaluation and Inspections 

The OIG's Office of Evaluation and Inspections (OEI) conducts short-term management and program 

evaluations (called inspections) that focus on issues of concern to the Department, the Congress, and 

the public. The findings and recommendations contained in the inspections reports generate rapid, 

accurate, and up-to-date information on the efficiency, vulnerability, and effectiveness of departmental 

programs. 

Office of Investigations 

The OIG's Office of Investigations (OI) conducts criminal, civil, and administrative investigations of 

allegations of wrongdoing in HHS programs or to HHS beneficiaries and of unjust enrichment by 

providers. The investigative efforts of OI lead to criminal convictions, administrative sanctions, or 

civil monetary penalties. The OI also oversees State Medicaid fraud control units which investigate and 

prosecute fraud and patient abuse in the Medicaid program. 

Office of Counsel to the Inspector General 

The Office of Counsel to the Inspector General (OCIG) provides general legal services to OIG, rendering 

advice and opinions on HHS programs and operations and providing all legal support in OIG’s internal 

operations. The OCIG imposes program exclusions and civil monetary penalties on health care providers 

and litigates those actions within the Department. The OCIG also represents OIG in the global 

settlement of cases arising under the Civil False Claims Act, develops and monitors corporate integrity 

agreements, develops model compliance plans, renders advisory opinions on OIG sanctions to the health 

care community, and issues fraud alerts and other industry guidance. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMA RY 

PURPOSE 

To assess States’ efforts to recruit foster parents. 

BACKGROUND 

State child welfare agencies are tasked with the responsibility of protecting children from 

abuse and neglect, which sometimes requires that children be removed from their homes 

and placed in foster care. Based on information reported to the Administration for 

Children and Families (ACF) via the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting 

System (AFCARS), as of March 31, 2000, there were 581,000 children in foster care. 

Forty-seven percent of those children were cared for in non-relative foster family homes. 

The ACF has regulatory oversight of the Title IV-E foster care program. The Title IV-E 

foster care program is designed to assist States in covering the costs for children in foster 

care by providing States with unlimited matching funds for children who meet income 

eligibility and other program requirements. Federal expenditures for the Title IV-E foster 

care program totaled $4 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1999 and $4.3 billion in FY 2000. 

Federal funding for the Title IV-E foster care program totalled $4.4 billion in FY 2001. 

Estimated Federal funding for the program is $5.1 billion in FY 2002. 

This report focuses on States’ efforts to recruit foster care families. A separate report, 

“Retaining Foster Parents,” (OEI-07-00-00601), addresses the issues associated with the 

retention of these families. We used two mechanisms to conduct this inspection. We 

used a mail survey to obtain information from the foster care program managers in the 

50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to determine their 

efforts to recruit foster care families. We also conducted focus group discussions with 

child welfare staff and foster parents in five States. 

FINDINGS 

Recruitment Efforts do not Focus on Families Willing and Able to Care for the 

Most Challenging Children 

The foster care agencies use recruiting methods designed to cast a wide net and recruit 

a large volume of prospective foster parents. However, many families recruited in this 

manner are unwilling to care for school-age children, teenagers, and children with special 

needs. These children constitute the largest portion of children in foster care, thus 

Recruiting Foster Parents i OEI-07-00-00600 
creating an urgent need to recruit families who are willing and able to provide them with 

care. 

States are Underutilizing Their Most Effective Recruitment Tool - Foster Parents 

Only 7 States are using foster parents regularly in their recruitment efforts even though 

survey respondents in 20 States said they find foster parents to be one of the most 

successful recruitment tools. Foster parents are effective recruiters because they share 

information about the need for foster parents through word-of-mouth contact and can 

promote the idea of fostering just by their presence in the community. 

Poor Public Perceptions of Foster Care and Cumbersome Requirements Have a 

Negative Impact on Recruitment 

Poor public perceptions of foster care discourage prospective foster parents. Unfavorable 

media portrayals depicting tragedies and abuses endured by foster children perpetuate 

negative perceptions about the current foster care system. Delayed responses to inquiries 

about becoming a foster parent, stringent requirements, and the length of time involved in 

becoming a foster parent also adversely effect States’ recruitment efforts and reinforce 

existing reservations about fostering. 

States are Unable to Measure the Success of Their Recruitment Efforts 

The lack of performance indicators and information about recruitment expenditures 

renders many States unable to measure the success of their recruitment efforts. States 

lack the tools necessary to identify which methods of recruitment are most beneficial and 

cost effective. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Our review allowed us to take a retrospective look at the effectiveness of foster care 

recruitment efforts. This review indicates that it may be time to rethink some aspects of 

the recruitment process. Clearly, substantial progress can be made towards improving 

recruitment efforts through the combined efforts of States, ACF, and national 

organizations, with particular emphasis on: 

! targeting recruitment efforts on parents for children who are the most difficult to 

place; 

! promoting positive public perceptions of foster care; and 

! improving information sharing about effective practices among key stakeholders 

and increasing technical assistance for program managers. 

Recruiting Foster Parents ii OEI-07-00-00600 
We offer numerous suggestions that we believe will assist in efforts to strengthen the 

recruitment process. 

AGENCY COMMENTS 

We received comments on this report from ACF. The ACF concurs with our findings 

and recommendations, stating that the information presented in this report will be useful 

to them in their continued efforts to meet the needs of children in need of care. Their 

comments emphasize ACF’s continued focus on the importance of children’s issues. In 

addition, ACF provided important contextual information and suggestions which served 

to enhance the report. We have made revisions to the report based on ACF’s comments. 

The full text of their comments is contained in the appendix. 

Recruiting Foster Parents iii OEI-07-00-00600 
TA BLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................... i

INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 1

FINDINGS

Recruitment Efforts Not Targeted ........................................... 5

Most Successful Recruitment Tool -- Foster Parents ............................. 7

The Biggest Barriers -- Public Perceptions and Cumbersome Requirements .......... 9

The Missing Ingredient -- Performance Measures .............................. 12

RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................... 13

APPENDIX

Agency Comments ...................................................... 15

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................... 22
INTRODUC TION 

PURPOSE 

To assess States’ efforts to recruit foster parents. 

BACKGROUND 

For a variety of reasons, some families are unable to provide safe environments for 

children. To protect these children, State child welfare agencies are tasked with the 

responsibility for removing children considered to be at-risk of abuse or neglect from 

their homes and placing them in foster care. In other instances, families voluntarily 

choose to have children removed from their homes and placed in foster care. In either 

situation, foster care placements provide children with temporary living arrangements, 

physical care, emotional support, and other services intended to protect and promote their 

growth and development until they can be reunited with their families or receive an 

alternative permanent placement (i.e., adoption or guardianship). 

The majority of children in the foster care system are cared for in foster family homes; the 

remainder are cared for in institutions, group homes, or other group settings. Based on 

information reported to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) by 43 States, 

the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, via the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and 

Reporting System (AFCARS) for the semi-annual reporting period March 31, 2000, there 

were approximately 581,000 children in foster care. Forty-seven percent of those 

children were cared for in non-relative foster family homes. The remaining 53 percent 

were cared for in a variety of foster care settings as outlined in Table 1 on the following 

page. Between April 1, 1998, and March 31, 1999, the number of children in foster care 

increased by 38,000. The mean length of time a child remained in foster care was 

32 months. 

The ideal foster care system would have a sufficient number of foster care families with 

the skills to meet the needs of the children removed from their homes. However, States 

are experiencing a shortage of families willing and able to provide foster care and a 

shortage of foster care families willing or able to meet the specific needs of the children 

in care (e.g., children with disabilities). 

This report focuses on States’ efforts to recruit foster care families. A separate report, 

“Retaining Foster Parents,” (OEI-07-00-00601), addresses the issues associated with the 

retention of these families. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 1 OEI-07-00-00600 
Table 1

Placement Settings of Children in Foster Care 

During Fiscal Year 2000

Placement Setting 

Children in Placement 

Per cent o f 

Foster Children 

Number of Foster 

Children 

Foster Family Homes (Non-Relative) 47 274,100 

Foster Family Homes (Relative) 26 151,864 

Institutions 10 57,590 

Group Homes 8 46,279 

Pre-Adoptive Homes 4 22,484 

Trial H ome V isits (with own families) 2.7 15,818 

Runaway and H omeless Youth Shelters 1.4 7,886 

Supervised Independent Living Facilities .9 4,979 

Total Num ber of Children in Foster Care 100 581,000 

Source: AFCARS 2000 

http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/afcars/june2001.pdf 

Federal Role in Foster Care 

Federal assistance for children and families began with implementation of the Aid to 

Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, Title IV-A of the Social Security 

Act, in 1935. The Federal role in foster care began in 1961, when Federal funds were 

made available to provide maintenance payments for children removed from AFDC 

eligible families in accordance with Federal requirements. 

The Federal role was further expanded with implementation of the Adoption Assistance 

and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272). This Act amended child welfare services 

laws to institute financial incentives for States to provide certain protections for children 

in foster care under Section 427 of the Social Security Act (Title IV-B) and established 

the Title IV-E foster care program. As a result, the foster care component of the AFDC 

program was transferred to the new Title IV-E foster care program in October 1982, and 

Federal Title IV-E foster care program funds became available to provide maintenance 

payments for children removed from AFDC eligible families in accordance with Federal 

requirements. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 provides States with 

the necessary tools and incentives to achieve the safety, permanency, and well-being 

goals of Public Law 96-272. Many States have chosen to recruit jointly for adoptive and 

foster families. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 2 OEI-07-00-00600 
The Title IV-E foster care program is designed to assist States in providing safe and

appropriate care for children in placements outside their homes, whether in foster family

homes or residential child care facilities. The program provides unlimited matching

funds to States to assist with the cost of certain foster care payments for children who

meet income eligibility requirements and have been removed from their home as the

result of a judicial determination that continuation in the home would be contrary to the

welfare of the child. Funds are also available to cover certain administrative and training

costs associated with the provision of foster care. 

The ACF has regulatory oversight of the Title IV-E foster care program, including

approval of State plans to ensure State foster care programs are operating within Federal

guidelines. States administer their Title IV-E foster care programs in accordance with the

approved State plans. The ACF recently began to monitor States’ conformity with their

State plans through Children and Family Services reviews and Title IV-E foster care

program eligibility reviews. 

The ACF also provides limited technical assistance to States through the Children’s

Bureau Training and Technical Assistance Network. The network comprises National

Resource Centers, Clearinghouses, and Technical Assistance Support Systems. 

However, most of the technical assistance provided through the network is focused on

safety and permanency placements of children who enter the child welfare system. While

States can request onsite training and technical assistance from the Network, they have

received minimal technical assistance to assist them in their recruitment efforts. 

Funding for Foster Care 

Title IV-E is an entitlement program, therefore States can claim Federal reimbursement 

for foster care maintenance payments made on behalf of all children whose families meet 

the income eligibility criteria for program participation under Section 472 of the Social 

Security Act. The ACF provides States with Federal funds by reimbursing a certain 

percentage of each State’s own expenditures for foster care. The rates at which the 

Federal government reimburses the States’ Title IV-E foster care program expenditures 

for the cost of foster care itself are the same rates at which the Centers for Medicare and 

Medicaid Services matches State expenditures for medical assistance (Medicaid), and 

range between 50 and 78 percent. The Federal match rates for administrative and training 

costs for State personnel associated with the Title IV-E foster care program are set at 

50 and 75 percent respectively. As an allowable administrative cost, expenditures for the 

recruitment of foster homes and institutions is matched at 50 percent. 

Because the Title IV-E foster care program is an entitlement program, Federal 

expenditures for all Title IV-E foster care program expenses are open-ended, and will 

increase in accordance with State expenditures for Title IV-E eligible children. Federal 

expenditures for Title IV-E foster care program totaled $4 billion in fiscal year 

(FY) 1999 and $4.3 billion in FY 2000. Federal funding for the Title IV-E program 

Recruiting Foster Parents 3 OEI-07-00-00600 
totalled $4.4 billion in FY 2001. Estimated Federal funding for the program is 

$5.1 billion in FY 2002. 

METHODOLOGY 

We used two mechanisms to conduct this inspection. We used a mail survey to solicit

information from the foster care program managers for the 50 States, the District of

Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to determine their efforts to recruit foster

care families. Through this survey, we gathered information regarding State policies,

practices, and processes for recruitment, and the barriers they are encountering in the

effective recruitment and retention of families. We received completed surveys from

41 foster care program managers. We did not receive completed surveys from the

District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Oregon,

Puerto Rico, Washington, or Wisconsin. The completed survey from Kentucky was

received after our analysis was completed. However, these 12 entities account for only

19 percent of the children in non-relative foster care homes and 9 percent of the total

number of the children in foster care. 

We judgementally selected a sample of five States (California, Florida, Illinois,

New York, and Texas) for additional data collection. Based on FY 1999 AFCARS data

reported to ACF, approximately 53 percent of the nation’s foster children reside in these

5 States. In addition to geographic diversity, the five States provided a mix of both

county administered (California and New York) and State administered (Florida, Illinois,

and Texas) foster care programs. 

In the five States, we collected more in-depth information about State recruitment

methods through personal interviews with State foster care program managers, and focus

group interviews with foster parents and child welfare staff. Child welfare staff

interviewed included caseworkers, caseworker supervisors, foster care recruitment

specialists, and staff from private foster care agencies with whom the State foster care

agency contracts. At a minimum, we conducted one foster parent and one foster care

program staff focus group interview in both an urban and rural location in each of the

five States. In total, we conducted 14 foster parent and 11 child welfare staff focus

groups in the 5 States, interviewing 115 foster parents and 107 child welfare staff

respectively. 

Even though some States have chosen to recruit jointly for adoptive and foster families as

a result of ASFA, it should be noted that we made no attempt to address the impact of

adoption on foster care recruitment. We also made no attempt to assess the impact of the

Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) on the recruitment of foster families. The MEPA

requires that agencies recruit foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial

diversity of children in the State in need of placement. 

We conducted this inspection in accordance with the Quality Standards for Inspections

issued by the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency.

Recruiting Foster Parents 4 OEI-07-00-00600 
FINDINGS 

Our methodology offered us the unique opportunity to talk with many people involved in 

the foster care system. We discovered diverse approaches used to recruit foster families. 

We talked with veteran child welfare and private agency staff who provided us with a 

historical perspective of the foster care system as well as new caseworkers eager to 

present us with creative ideas for the future. We held children and we talked with their 

foster parents about what it was like to care for them. By listening to foster parents and 

child welfare agency personnel, we came to realize that joint recruitment for foster care 

and adoptive parents has become the norm. We learned about permanency planning and 

reunification goals, and that private agencies currently provide an appreciable proportion 

of our nation’s foster care services, including recruitment. 

Through focus groups, we encountered foster parents from many different walks of life 

who became involved with foster parenting for a variety of reasons. Several of them had 

known other foster parents and felt compelled to become involved; some had been 

looking for a way to give back to their community; others were unable to have children; 

and a few had been foster children themselves. Some parents had only recently began to 

foster; others considered themselves “seasoned” foster parents who, over the years, had 

cared for hundreds of foster children. 

Throughout this inspection we detected a common theme - one of continuous struggle to 

meet the needs of the children coming into the foster care system. As such, our goal was 

to identify relevant problems associated with recruiting families to care for these children 

and offer recommendations for improvement. 

Recruitment Efforts do not Focus on Families Willing and 

Able to Care for the Most Challenging Children 

Needs of Foster Children are Changing 

Foster care program managers and child welfare staff said they are finding it increasingly 

difficult to find families for the foster children now entering the foster care system. In 

every focus group we conducted, we were told that the children coming into foster care 

today need more assistance than foster children of the past, and therefore are more 

difficult to place. They noted that children entering the foster care system are older and 

often have more mental, behavioral, and emotional challenges than in the past. They are 

often the victims of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Virtually all survey respondents 

indicate that it is difficult to place troubled adolescents and teens. 

Of the 41 States responding to our survey question about the “most-difficult-to-place 

groups” of children, foster care program managers identified adolescents with 

psychological or mental disabilities as the most difficult to place (31 percent). 

Recruiting Foster Parents 5 OEI-07-00-00600 
Furthermore, foster care program managers said adolescents in general comprised 

71 percent of the selections for “most-difficult-to-place” foster children. Other children 

for which finding foster care placements are difficult include sibling groups and children 

with mental, behavioral, and emotional challenges and children with physical and special 

needs (e.g., HIV positive children, babies addicted to drugs, babies with “shaken baby 

syndrome”). Twenty-four program managers responding to our survey said they have 

sometimes been forced to place children in residential or institutional foster care facilities 

because no appropriate family foster home was available. Eleven of those managers say 

this is a practice that is increasing, in spite of the fact that it is significantly more 

expensive. 

The System has not Adapted to Changing Foster Care Needs 

Overall, child welfare workers and foster parents alike expressed concern with the foster 

care system’s failure to change recruitment strategies to keep pace with changing foster 

care needs. One case worker said recruiting agencies continue to “lead families to believe 

they can make a difference in a child’s life by simply providing them with love and a 

home . . . most of the children in foster care need much more than that.” Child welfare 

staff indicate this type of general recruitment brings in a lot of foster families, so the issue 

is not one of numbers. They say the result, however, is that their agencies are spending a 

lot of time and money licensing foster family homes which may never receive a child 

because these families are unwilling to accept adolescents, sibling groups, or children 

with severe psychological or medical needs. Child welfare staff and foster parents 

believe that to meet the needs of children coming into care, they must actively target their 

recruitment efforts to find homes capable and willing to accept these children. They 

caution that recruitment “should be tied to reality,” and expressed concern regarding the 

licensing of foster families unlikely to ever receive a child. 

General Recruitment Practices are Unable to Meet the Needs of Children in Care 

Child welfare workers and foster parents alike believe that continued general recruitment 

will result in the licensing of an ever increasing number of homes unwilling or unable to 

accept many of the children in need of care. Child welfare workers said this results in 

licensed foster care families becoming frustrated when no children are placed in their 

homes. Child welfare workers and foster parents both said it also sends a message to 

others that the foster care system has a sufficient number of foster families to care for the 

children coming into care, when in fact there simply are not enough licensed homes 

willing to take the types of children in need of care. The result is underutilization of 

available foster care placements. 

Thirty-six (88 percent) of the 41 foster care program managers responding to our survey 

said they had licensed foster care families who were not currently caring for children. 

Child welfare workers and foster parents expressed great concern with the negative 

connotation associated with vacant beds in licensed foster homes. They said one of the 

reasons licensed families may not be caring for children is that the families had been 

Recruiting Foster Parents 6 OEI-07-00-00600 
licensed but were unwilling or unable to care for the children currently in need of care. 

Other reasons licensed foster families may not be caring for children included changes in 

family circumstances, families taking a break from fostering, families licensed only to 

provide respite care, or families under investigation for allegations of abuse. 

To address other factors agencies encounter in placing specific types of children, 

two States we visited have encouraged agency collaboration and resource sharing among 

various counties. By pooling their resources, agencies are able to commit more staff to 

locate and recruit families with the necessary skills who are willing to foster “more 

difficult” to place children. In addition, agencies are able to refer prospective foster 

families to the agencies responsible for serving children in their community. 

States are Underutilizing Their Most Effective Recruitment 

Tool - Foster Parents 

States are underutilizing the recruitment method foster parents and child welfare staff said 

was most effective -- foster parents. In every focus group interview conducted, both child 

welfare staff and foster parents said that it was not the billboards, television 

advertisements, public service announcements, or event booths that inspired people to 

become foster parents. Both said that foster parents themselves are a highly effective and 

valuable tool in encouraging others to pursue fostering. In their experience, people 

inquire about foster parenting based on personal needs and desires. While nine foster 

parents interviewed said they had in fact seen a billboard or a newspaper advertisement 

for foster care, they pursued fostering for a variety of other reasons. Those reasons 

included their inability to have children, the loss of a biological child, the desire for more 

children, the need to become a licensed caregiver for grandchildren or children already 

residing in their home, or because they knew and admired someone (e.g., their parents, a 

neighbor) who had been a foster parent. They all noted the decision to become a foster 

parent was not made based on a single advertisement or brochure. It was made over time. 

The encouragement from an existing foster parent can be instrumental in choosing to 

become a foster parent. 

Foster Parents are the Most Effective Recruitment Tool 

Despite a lack of benchmarks or performance indicators to track successful recruitment 

practices, program managers in 20 States said they find foster parents to be one of the 

most successful methods of recruiting new foster families, 10 of which listed foster 

parents as their most cost effective recruitment tool. Child welfare staff in 1 State said 

that over half their successful recruits are referred to them by other foster parents, in 

contrast to a 10 percent recruitment rate for general recruiting. Child welfare staff said 

foster parents recruited by other foster parents are more likely to complete the pre-service 

training and become licensed. Other States report similar results. Yet, only seven States 

indicated they are using foster parents on a regular basis in their recruitment efforts. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 7 OEI-07-00-00600 
Although we did not collect information as to why States did not use foster parents more 

frequently, we did find that some States as well as private agencies are taking steps to 

increase the use of foster parents as recruiters. One of the five States we visited reports 

paying foster parents $10 per hour to staff recruitment booths at local events and fairs. 

Another State recently passed legislation which will enable them to use State funds to pay 

a $300 stipend for each successful referral from a foster parent. Child welfare staff 

interviewed said some private agencies offer recruitment stipends to foster parents, but 

the number that offer stipends is unknown. Despite these efforts, child welfare staff and 

foster parents said foster parents continue to be a resource that is highly underutilized. 

States Concentrate Efforts on Costly Recruitment Methods 

States report focusing on a variety of other methods to recruit foster families, many of 

which are very costly. Of the 41 foster care program managers who responded to our 

survey, 38 said they use a combination of media (i.e., television public service 

announcements, radio campaigns, newspaper advertisements, magazine advertisements), 

38 use brochures, and 24 use billboards to recruit foster families. States also utilize a 

number of other recruitment tools which have printed agency names and telephone 

numbers. Those recruitment tools include magnets, bookmarks, coffee mugs, T-shirts, 

pins, rubber balls, grocery bags, calendars, and lapel pins. Other recruitment endeavors 

include making presentations to local civic and religious organizations and booths at State 

and county fairs, malls, school events, and health fairs. Program managers and child 

welfare workers believe the use of a variety of recruitment tools not only plants the seed 

about becoming a foster parent, but also reinforces those thoughts. 

In response to a question asking which recruitment methods they use most often, 14 foster 

care program managers said they use television and public service announcements. 

Foster care program managers in 8 of these 14 States said they believe television is one of 

the most successful recruitment methods, and 7 said television advertisements had proven 

to be the most successful recruitment method for the dollars expended. However, the 

eight States in which the program managers said television was the most successful 

recruitment tool had not developed benchmarks or performance indicators to measure the 

success of their recruitment efforts. Likewise, only two of the seven States that reported 

finding television advertisements the most cost-effective recruitment method had 

established benchmarks or performance indicators and three of the seven did not provide 

information on recruitment expenditures. As such, we question these States’ abilities to 

determine which recruitment methods are successful and which were in fact most cost 

effective. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 8 OEI-07-00-00600 
Poor Public Perceptions of Foster Care and Cumbersome 

Requirements Have a Negative Impact on Recruitment 

Virtually everyone we talked with said that poor public perceptions of foster care can 

discourage prospective foster parents. They also said the length of time between an 

individual’s first inquiry about becoming a foster parent and when they actually begin 

fostering is often a deterrent and greatly impacts State recruitment efforts. Cumbersome 

licensing and training requirements are frustrating as well. Both child welfare workers 

and foster parents said the longer the time between inquiry and placement, the more likely 

they are to lose potential recruits. 

Of the 41 foster care program managers responding to our survey, 14 (34 percent) said the 

length of time between submission of an application and placement had a negative effect 

on recruitment in their States. However, program managers in only 9 States (22 percent) 

said they had data available regarding barriers to recruitment in their State. Of those 

9 States, only 2 were among the States that had established performance indicators to 

measure the success of their recruitment efforts. 

Public Perceptions 

When asked to choose from a list of potential recruitment barriers, 37 (90 percent) of the 

41 foster care program managers responding to our survey said poor perceptions and a 

lack of public understanding of foster care needs were barriers to effective recruitment. 

Child welfare staff and foster parents interviewed echoed those concerns. They said the 

media tends to portray foster parenting in a negative light, focusing on extreme cases of 

abuse, neglect, or death. They realize the media’s responsibility to report the news, but 

feel there is a disproportional amount of attention given to negative reporting on foster 

children and foster parenting, and that such reporting hinders recruitment efforts. They 

suggested that a national campaign be undertaken to promote the positive aspects of 

fostering. 

Response to Inquiries 

Foster parents interviewed expressed frustration with the number of calls they placed to 

the recruiting agency before receiving a response. One foster parent said she placed 

8 phone calls to a recruiting agency’s 800 number before receiving a response from the 

recruiting agency, and several months followed before she was enrolled in a foster parent 

training class. Other foster parents report similar experiences and stressed the importance 

of acting on an individual’s enthusiasm. Virtually everyone interviewed expressed 

concern with the number of prospective foster parents that may be lost as the result of 

failed or untimely responses to initial inquiries. 

Foster parents, program managers, and child welfare staff agree that timely responses to 

prospective foster parent inquiries are important for successful recruitment. However, all 

Recruiting Foster Parents 9 OEI-07-00-00600 
note that the workloads of staff responsible for foster parent recruitment often make it 

difficult to respond to inquiries in a timely manner and even more difficult to respond to 

inquiries generated as the result of more intense recruitment campaigns. Survey 

respondents in 27 States indicate their recruitment efforts are “seasonal” and more intense 

during certain months (e.g., May is National Foster Parent month). Other States report 

more intense recruitment during the spring and fall, in September at back-to-school 

events, and at ongoing children’s sporting events. To accommodate higher than normal 

volume of inquiries during these campaigns, State foster care program managers and 

child welfare workers said they reassign staff and ask them to work together in an attempt 

to handle increased workloads. 

One of the five States we visited has established a foster care and adoption Internet 

website from which they have received an overwhelming response. In fact, the response 

has been so good, child welfare workers said they are “drowning in Internet inquiries” 

and expressed concern with their inability to respond to all inquiries. They said posting 

information on the website about healthy infants and children requiring minimal care has 

contributed to a high volume of inquiries, yet may be providing an incorrect picture of 

most children in need of care. Child welfare workers responsible for responding to these 

Internet inquiries said “recruitment is only as good as your response system,” and believe 

their inability to respond to calls or to respond in a timely manner also sends a message to 

the public that no new foster homes are needed. 

Licensing Requirements 

The licensing requirements are a very important component of every State’s foster care 

program. The requirements ensure safety and compliance, and serve as a great 

opportunity to enhance foster parent and caseworker training and education. However, 

licensing requirements can become burdensome on foster parents. 

Despite that 

31 (76 percent) of the 

41 foster care program 

managers who said their 

States provide 

prospective foster 

parents with licensing 

assistance, child welfare 

staff and foster parents 

said stringent licensing 

requirements still hinder 

the recruitment process. 

Application forms to 

initiate the foster parent 

licensing process are 

Examples of Licensing Frustrations 

Other frustrations related to licensing include one State’s requirement 

that foster parents be “re-licensed” each year, a process which 

requires annual completion of a new application and home 

inspection. In another State, child welfare workers said a new 

medical form, soon to be implemented, may be a detriment to the 

licensing process. This new form requires the applying foster 

parent’s physician to speculate on the future health of the applicant 

by asking whether or not they will be healthy enough to care for 

children in 5 years and if they will be able to lift 40 pounds 2 years 

from now. They expressed concern with physicians being able or 

willing to speculate on someone’s future health. 

lengthy, and completion of the application and other required paperwork often contributes 

to a significant amount of time between application and becoming licensed. While foster 

parents acknowledge the importance of licensing and safety requirements, they expressed 

Recruiting Foster Parents 10 OEI-07-00-00600 
frustration with the length of time between application and licensure. Child welfare 

workers echo those concerns and said it is not unusual for applicants to become so 

discouraged during this phase of the process that they decide not to foster. 

The costs associated with licensing may prove too high for some foster parents, making it 

difficult or impossible for some families to foster. Foster parents may be required to pay 

for things like physical examinations, finger printing, drug screening, background checks, 

radon testing, and water testing. These parents may also be unable to pay for the home 

safety improvements (e.g. fire extinguishers, first aid kits, refrigerator thermometers) 

necessary to bring them into compliance with licensing standards. Child welfare workers 

and foster parents alike noted that, while some licensing requirements are fairly 

significant (e.g., fencing a swimming pool or body of water), “one-size-fits-all” (e.g., only 

one child per bedroom) type requirements aren’t always necessary and can prove too 

costly for prospective foster parents, and are especially problematic when caring for 

sibling groups or difficult to place children. As a result, even though some States may 

offer assistance to help with the cost of some of these necessities, the cost of 

becoming a foster parent remains an obstacle for many families. 

Training Requirements 

While foster care program managers, caseworkers, and foster parents agree that training is 

important and helpful, training requirements were reported to be a barrier to successful 

recruitment by 13 (32 percent) of the 41 foster care program managers responding to our 

survey. Training requirements were also of concern to foster parents in all 5 States 

visited. Prospective foster parents must commit to several weeks in training and must 

meet State training requirements before they can obtain their license. Foster care program 

managers in 13 States said prospective foster parents spend between 9 and12 weeks in 

training. In 12 States, the length of time spent in training exceeds 12 weeks. In addition 

to the time prospective foster parents must devote to meeting training requirements, they 

are expected to pay the costs associated with training (e.g., child care for their own 

children while they attend classes). Training foster parents in rural areas poses additional 

concerns regarding the availability of training classes, the distance prospective parents 

must travel to attend, and the cost of transportation to attend. 

Child welfare workers and foster parents also noted that training obligations often draw 

child welfare staff away from their other responsibilities, making it more difficult for 

them to respond to foster parents and the needs of the children in care. To ensure an 

effective investment of time spent in licensing and training for families and caseworkers, 

States suggest developing or enhancing the pre-screening process of prospective foster 

parents to allow them to remove themselves if they determine they cannot meet the 

standards. They said this could reduce the number of training and licensing commitments 

for child welfare staff. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 11 OEI-07-00-00600 
States are Unable to Measure the Success of Their 

Recruitment Efforts 

The lack of performance indicators and information about recruitment expenditures 

renders many States unable to measure the success of their recruitment efforts. Not only 

had many States not developed recruitment goals and established performance indicators, 

they were unable to track their expenditures for recruitment activities. 

Eighteen of the 41 foster care program managers responding to our survey said they had 

not developed goals for the recruitment of foster care families. Of the 21 program 

managers that said their States had developed recruitment goals, only 13 said their States 

had established benchmarks or performance indicators to measure the success of their 

recruitment efforts. Two States indicated they have established benchmarks or 

performance indicators but not recruitment goals. Two States provided no response to 

questions about recruitment goals or performance indicators. 

Further, of the States that established performance indicators, only two have developed 

indicators related to a targeted portion of the foster care population (i.e., teens and sibling 

groups), goals both of these States have been unable to meet. The recruitment goals most 

commonly reported are based on increasing the overall number of foster parents in an 

attempt to attract families willing to foster teens and adolescents with emotional or 

developmental disabilities, and children with psychological problems. In one State, the 

foster care program manager said it is left up to local offices to develop their own 

recruitment goals and objectives. 

In addition to the lack of recruitment goals and performance indicators, only 21 of the 

State foster care program managers responding to our survey were able to tell us how 

much of their Title IV-E foster care program administrative funds were spent on efforts to 

recruit foster care families in 1999. States have the discretion to appropriate a portion of 

their Title IV-E foster care program administrative funds to recruitment activities. When 

asked about county and local funds expended for recruitment, only 4 of the 11 States with 

county administered foster care programs could provide the information. States may be 

limited in their ability to assess the cost effectiveness of recruitment efforts if they cannot 

specifically report recruitment expenditures. Due to the limited responses and the 

variance of those responses, information regarding recruitment expenditures is not 

included in this report. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 12 OEI-07-00-00600 
RECOMMENDA TIONS 

States are using a variety of methods to recruit foster parents. However, they may be 

spending a significant amount on less effective endeavors and overlooking successful, 

less costly recruitment methods. To publicize the most cost effective recruitment 

campaigns, States, ACF, and national organizations should work in concert towards 

disseminating information focused on enhancing the effectiveness of foster care 

recruitment strategies, especially those targeting the needs of the children in care. 

RECRUITMENT METHODS 

State and local agencies should review their current recruitment efforts. Based on 

information provided by State foster care program managers, child welfare staff, and 

foster parents, more successful recruiting could occur within existing resources. 

Although we did not assess the effectiveness of these suggestions, we offer several to 

elevate the discussion of cost-effective recruitment efforts. 

! Target recruitment efforts on parents for children who are the most difficult to 

place in foster care by tailoring recruitment campaigns to recruit families willing 

and able to care for these children; 

! Offer incentives to foster parents for successfully recruiting other foster families; 

! Use foster parents as facilitators during pre-service foster parent training classes; 

! Work collaboratively among foster care agencies to develop innovative 

recruitment methods; 

! Develop partnerships with community and faith-based organizations to heighten 

awareness of foster care needs and foster parenting opportunities; 

! Determine future foster care trends and needs and link to targeted recruitment 

strategies; 

! Determine recruitment goals necessary to meet the current and future needs of 

children in foster care (e.g., adolescents, teenagers, and physically or mentally 

disabled); 

! Develop methods to assess the effectiveness of recruitment efforts (e.g., survey 

foster parents and establish benchmarks and tracking data); 

! Strive to sustain recruitment campaign efforts throughout the year; 

Recruiting Foster Parents 13 OEI-07-00-00600 
! Allow foster care agencies to recruit outside of their communities to maintain a 

steady influx of new prospective foster families; 

! Examine State licensing standards to identify barriers to recruitment; and 

! Develop or enhance the pre-screening process of prospective foster parents. 

Improve Public Perceptions 

The ACF and State foster care program managers should collaborate with national 

organizations focused on the welfare of children to promote more positive media 

coverage of foster care. These positive depictions can be augmented through local foster 

care program postings, newsletters, and partnerships with community based 

organizations, businesses, churches, and civic groups. 

Enhance Technical Assistance 

Despite the successes that may be achieved through information sharing among the 

States, ACF should use its position as a Federal partner in the foster care system to 

enhance information sharing and assessment of recruitment efforts. Towards this end, we 

recommend the ACF provide State foster care program managers with guidance focused 

on enhancing the effectiveness of States’ recruitment efforts. Such guidance should 

include information to assist them in: 

! enhancing and implementing targeted recruitment efforts for difficult to place 

children; 

! utilizing foster parents as recruiters; 

! identifying unmet and future recruitment needs; 

! establishing recruitment goals; 

! developing outcome-based recruitment plans; 

! identifying sources and using data to monitor and track recruitment 

outcomes; and 

! determining what recruitment methods are most cost-effective and gather data to 

calculate recruitment expenditures. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 14 OEI-07-00-00600 
A GENCY COMMENTS 

We received comments on this report from the Administration for Children and Families 

(ACF). The ACF concurs with our findings and recommendations, stating that the 

information presented in this report will be useful to them in their continued efforts to 

meet the needs of children in need of care. Their comments emphasize ACF’s continued 

focus on the importance of children’s issues. In addition, ACF provided important 

contextual information and suggestions which served to enhance the report. We made 

revisions to the report based on ACF’s comments. The full text of their comments is 

contained in the appendix. 

Recruiting Foster Parents 15 OEI-07-00-00600 
APPENDIX 

Recruiting Foster Parents 16 OEI-07-00-00600 
Recruiting Foster Parents 17 OEI-07-00-00600 
Recruiting Foster Parents 18 OEI-07-00-00600 
Recruiting Foster Parents 19 OEI-07-00-00600 
Recruiting Foster Parents 20 OEI-07-00-00600 
Recruiting Foster Parents 21 OEI-07-00-00600 
A CKNOWLED GMENTS 

This report was prepared under the direction of Brian T. Pattison, Regional Inspector General for 

Evaluation and Inspections in Kansas City. Other principal Office of Evaluation and Inspections 

staff who contributed include: 

Deborah Walden, Project Leader Linda Hall, Program Specialist

Mike Craig, Program Analyst

Steve Milas, Program Analyst

Gary Reese, Program Analyst

Technical Assistance 

Barbara Tedesco, Technical Support Staff 

Recruiting Foster Parents 22 OEI-07-00-00600