The report, Using Relatives for Foster Care , explores the last type of arrangement. The study examines how states support foster care provided by relatives and identifies issues concerning the certification and utilization of extended family members within the foster care system. Key findings include that few states even collect detailed data on relative foster care placements. The use of these types of arrangements appears to be increasing because of state policies encouraging the maintenance of extended family ties and because of shortages of foster homes. The results also indicate, however, that formal procedures for licensing and approving relative foster homes often are lacking in many states and that relative foster parents may be held to lesser standards unless they also care for non-related children.
Policies regulating foster care maintenance payments also vary between and within states.
Finally, evidence indicates that children in relative care arrangements remain the legal responsibility of the state longer than do children in alternative types of arrangements. The report also advises that ACF urge states to formulate consistent policies for informing approved or licensed relatives about their eligibility for financial reimbursement. In response to the second recommendation, ACF concurred that states should have such policies, that relative foster parents should be informed about the benefits for which they qualify, and that these benefits should be offered as part of routine placement procedures. The report, Economic Implications of Rising Health Care Costs , analyzes the special features of the health care market, assesses why health care costs are climbing, discusses the impact that health expenditures will have on employer-provided insurance, and reviews how rising costs within government health programs will affect the economy. The study finds that numerous factors are to blame for the nation's spiraling health expenditures, primarily the rapid development of costly medical technology.