More than half of U.S. states will see a decline in the number of licensed foster families from 2021 to 2022. In Nevada, the drop was nearly 18%. In South Carolina, the decline was 61%, the largest drop of any state.
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More than half of U.S. states will see a decline in the number of licensed foster families from 2021 to 2022. In Nevada, the drop was nearly 18%. In South Carolina, the decline was 61%, the largest drop of any state.
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ELKO, Nevada — Brandy Holbrook spent April driving hundreds of miles through four northeastern Nevada counties to speak to local leaders about the problems in the area’s foster care system. The smoldering crisis calls out.
A shortage of housing for children and teens in need of care in this vast rural part of the state has forced officials to temporarily house the children in casino hotel rooms while state workers look after them while they find foster families. Holbrook, the state social services manager in Elko, said it’s normal to see demand fluctuate, but early 2023 is the worst year she’s seen in her 20 years with the Nevada Department of Children and Family Services.
“For the entire county, there are 12 beds and zero open beds,” Holbrooke told KFF Health News in April. “Literally no child in this county can stay in their community.”
State social services manager Brandy Holbrook has sounded the alarm about the lack of foster homes for children in need in rural northeastern Nevada.
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State social services manager Brandy Holbrook has sounded the alarm about the lack of foster homes for children in need in rural northeastern Nevada.
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez/KFF Health News
The agency housed seven children from rural Nevada counties in rooms at the casino hotel, each for a brief stay of 89 days that ended in May. During these emergency placements, the state pays overtime on a 1-for-1 basis to care for the children.
Prisons and Emergency Rooms for Foster Children
The emergency in Elko County is not unique. More than half of U.S. states will experience fewer licensed foster families from 2021 to 2022, according to a national trends report from The Imprint, a nonprofit publication that reports on child welfare and family issues. The number of licensed foster families in Nevada fell nearly 18 percent, while South Carolina saw a 61 percent drop, the largest drop of any state.
Licia Welch, associate director of litigation at the advocacy group Children’s Rights, said there is no question that many states have relied on inappropriate placement of children because of a lack of foster homes.
In North Carolina, where the number of licensed foster families dropped 23% from 2021 to 2022, children are sleeping in prisons and emergency rooms. State lawmakers there are working on a bill to provide more funding for the child welfare system. In Montana, where the number of licensed foster families is down 23 percent, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation in May that provides a $7,500 state income tax credit to parents who adopt a child in foster care. In Sacramento County, California, children are housed in a former juvenile detention center used as a temporary shelter.
Not only is the placement harmful to children, but it also drains state welfare resources, Welch said. “It’s not that I think any of these systems choose to rely on these practices, but the more they rely on them, the deeper they just dig.”
However, good solutions are hard to come by. Nevada officials are considering easing licensing requirements for foster families — a necessary step some advocates say. But the proposal to deregulate comes after a national audit found widespread problems even in establishments already housing children.
Through May, 54,000 people lived in five generally licensed foster homes in the 17,000-square-mile Elko County, Holbrook said. Four other families in the county received kin placement permits, where relatives can raise children in the system.
Winnemucca, more than 100 miles from Humboldt County, is the closest city to children in Elko County, Holbrook said, as there are no foster care sites available in counties near Elko either. On many occasions, the children were relocated to Reno, nearly 300 miles from Elko, or Las Vegas, 430 miles away. Moving children out of the community further disrupts their lives, she said. Not only do they lose their normal lives with their families, but they also lose contact with other key people such as teachers, classmates and coaches.
By April, Holbrooke said, eight or nine children had rotated in and out of the casino-hotel room, though they were relocated in May. As another temporary solution, the state purchased a house in Reno to avoid placing children in hotel rooms. It still requires caseworkers to live with the children until the state finds them a home.
Child Welfare says between 400 and 450 children are in foster care in rural areas of the state at any one time. Before the pandemic, there were 220 licensed foster homes in rural Nevada, but that number has now dropped to about 100 — reflecting serious challenges facing rural communities, including higher rates of poverty, services and geography between communities Workers with greater distances, limited infrastructure, and fewer social activities. Multiple state and federal reports paint a picture of a Nevada system plagued by health and safety concerns.
Audit finds irregularities in foster homes
Last year, a report by the Nevada Legislative Auditor declared that of 30 homes inspected, 33 percent had health or safety deficiencies, and 79 percent of foster homes had at least one violation. Four of the families did not meet the drug administration requirements.
A separate audit report released in January pointed to incomplete medication records, missing documentation and safety issues at government and private children’s facilities, including two of the state’s nine senior foster homes. Known as AFC homes, these places provide specialized care for foster children experiencing severe emotional or behavioral problems. “The care and living conditions of the AFC family did not meet certain minimum foster care standards established by state law,” the report said.
Despite a host of issues detailed in the investigators’ report, state officials have suggested loosening oversight for foster families as they seek homes for children in state custody.
The Department of Children and Family Services held a public hearing in late April, during which officials considered changes to licensing and regulatory rules in response to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s request that all state agencies recommend cutting regulations executive order.
In its notice of hearing, the state agency said lowering the minimum requirements for initial licensing could remove barriers to placement. Current rules require foster parents to pass background checks, submit fingerprints, and be cleared through state registries that flag incidents of child abuse or neglect. Another proposal would change part of the law to require TB testing on initial licensing and every two years thereafter.
6 months for permission to become a foster parent
Nathan Hornback, lead teaching pastor of Living Stones Church in Elko and an advocate for foster children and parents, said permission can be onerous for families. Getting a license can take six to nine months or more, especially in rural areas where state agencies are understaffed. In addition to lengthy paperwork and background checks, Nevada requires 27 hours of training to prepare foster parents to adopt a child or youth who may be experiencing serious emotional or behavioral issues.
Welch thought it would be a good idea to review existing regulations to see if there were ways to remove barriers for those wanting foster care and finding homes for children without compromising safety.
Meanwhile, social workers like Holbrook continue to search for a safe home.
In April, she sought help at city council and county board meetings. Now, she’s turning to school boards and other local groups. Religious leaders are also stepping up.
Before the pandemic, Hornback said, he traveled with social workers throughout the region to raise awareness for children in foster care. Now, he and his church are focusing on supporting prospective foster families during and after the licensing process.
A baby left on their front steps
Hornback knows the challenges of upbringing and adoption. The couple adopted their first daughter through a private process in 2015, several years after his wife suffered a miscarriage. Then, a year later, they became emergency foster parents when a 7-week-old baby was left on their doorstep. Hornback said it was a Sunday afternoon. He had been preaching at church all day and needed to go back for another service.
The baby was treated for neonatal abstinence syndrome in hospital for six weeks. Eighteen months after the Hornbacks brought the baby home, a judge ruled they could formally adopt her. She is 6 years old now.
Pastor Nathan Hornback and his wife Audrey advocated for other families to become adoptive parents after adopting daughters Finley May (left) and Lennon Ivy.
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(Daniel Garcia)
Pastor Nathan Hornback and his wife Audrey advocated for other families to become adoptive parents after adopting daughters Finley May (left) and Lennon Ivy.
(Daniel Garcia)
Hornback said he knew the burden on foster families could be too much without help. For him, that’s where Foster the City, the California Federation of Churches, comes in. The community support and encouragement it provides can be the difference between a family renewing a license and not renewing it, Hornback said.
“We can mobilize,” he said. “We can overcome loneliness and depression in the process by surrounding people with love, care and support.”
It looks like calling out church members to help foster families with chores like child care, transportation needs, meals, or yard work. If the two Hornback Church families step up to get permits this year and succeed, it will nearly double the number of homes available for foster children in Elko.
Hornback said the league wants to have a waiting list for families in the community, not a waiting list for kids.
KFF Health Newsformerly Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth news coverage of health issues as one of the center’s core operating programsKennedy Foundation — Independent source for health policy research, opinion polls and news.
