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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
December 5, 2003
Report No. 2003-115
Better management of the foster care
support functions is needed to improve services to foster parents and children
and to avoid costly errors
This
audit is the second of two reports on the effectiveness of Missouri�s foster
care system, which served 19,000 children during fiscal year 2002.� This report focuses on core program support
functions within the Children�s Division of the Department of Social
Services.� These support functions should
ensure appropriate care for the children served, correct payments to placement
providers, and retention of experienced foster parents. �The following highlights the findings:
Foster
care caseloads unable to be determined because division databases are not
current
Auditors were unable to determine the average caseload
per foster care worker.� The foster care
case management system listed 923 more social workers than were on the payroll
and had numerous errors that would affect the number of cases listed.� The only way for the department to determine
caseload per worker was to contact the lowest level of management, and even
then the answers were not readily obtained.�
Untimely case status updates to the management system were one of the primary
causes for overpayments to foster parents. �(See page 4)
Unnecessary costs incurred for emergency placements
Division personnel did not follow division policy that
limits emergency placement pay to 30 days and overpaid foster parents. �To address this issue, the division added an
edit check in the computer system denying an extension of emergency payment
rates beyond 60 days without review and approval.� This edit check should be amended, to limit
emergency pay to 30 days since division costs could increase if social workers no
longer have the incentive to achieve placement within 30 days. (See page 6)
Residential providers paid for children who ran away
When
a child runs away from a residential facility, division policy allows payment
for up to 7 extra days if the provider agrees to hold the opening for the child
upon return.� However, auditors found none
of the 27 runaways from residential facilities in our analysis returned to
their original facility.� Money that
could be used for other services is then spent to hold a place for high
flight-risk children.� The division
should take action to amend current contracts and delete this language from
future contracts.� (See page 7)
Some
foster parent background check results disregarded
In three cases, prospective foster parents were licensed even
though their files contained hard copy documentation of criminal convictions
from their original background checks.�
Division personnel said the licenses were issued by mistake, which were
caused by untimely supervisory review.�
(See page 9)
Social
worker background checks could be more thorough
Background
checks conducted by the division on prospective social workers do not include
the Family Care Registry, which identifies those individuals excluded from
working for the Departments of Health and Senior Services or Mental Health
because of their previous history. It seems reasonable a worker considered
unacceptable for working with the elderly or mentally ill should also receive
more careful consideration before being accepted to serve as a children�s
social worker. �(See page 9)
Efforts
should be made to retain existing trained foster parents
The
division does not have a formal retention program that tracks retention rate
records or works to determine the effectiveness of division and foster parent
relationships.� The division does not
perform formal exit interviews and does not track the local office�s paper
files that may note the parent�s reason for leaving.� The outcome of a successful retention program
could result in fewer disruptive moves for children in state custody.� In addition, the division should better
inform foster parents about the division�s formal grievance process.� (See page 10)
Reimbursement
rates for foster parents rank low among states
Based
on a national survey conducted by the Child Welfare League of America and the
Casey Foundation, Missouri�s payments to reimburse foster parents are among the
lowest of all states, ranging from 33rd to 37th of 49
reporting states, depending on the child�s age.�
Compared to a USDA report that estimates the costs of raising a child,
Missouri rates cover less than 50 percent of the total costs incurred for
children ages 3 to 17.� (See page 12)
