Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________
Welfare Watch - August 19, 2010 - Privately Licensed Foster Care Agency Numbers Decreasing
Keith Bostick, the Director of the Office of Residential Child Care, reported at the DHS Board meeting that the number of licensed programs that care for Georgia foster children is decreasing. Georgia has 51 fewer programs caring for Georgia's foster children than it did in 2007. In 2007, Georgia had 415 privately licensed programs caring for Georgia foster children. Today, there are 364 licensed programs in the State. Group homes, licensed as Child Caring Institutions, saw the greatest loss of 57 programs for a total of 258. Foster care agencies, licensed as Child Placing Agencies, actually saw an increase of two for a total of 92. Therapeutic Wilderness Camps, licensed as Outdoor Child Caring Institutions, saw the closure of two with only eight remaining in the State.
|
License Types |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Child Caring Institutions (CCI) |
315 |
300 |
292 |
258 |
|
Child Placing Agencies (CPA) |
90 |
89 |
86 |
92 |
|
Children’s Transitional Care Centers (CTCC) *established in 2009 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Outdoor Child Caring Programs (OCCP) |
10 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
|
Maternity Homes (MH) *transitioned to ORCC in 2009 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
5 |
There are many causes for the decline in licensed programs. For one, there are far fewer children in care today than there were in 2007. The reduction has been more than 40%. In 2007, we had almost 14,000 children in foster care. Today, there are fewer than 7,500. The economy has also taken a toll on private providers. Fundraising is much more difficult.
Announced yesterday, DHS plans to implement cuts of 4% to provider rates and further utilization cuts. These cuts will put additional pressure on the community to close these community based and supportive services that are so important for Georgia's at-risk children.
_____________________________________
Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia
Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________
The Georgia Conference on Children and Families
Legacy Lodge,