Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Imbalance seen in county foster care system

Although the number of children entering Clark County's foster care system continues to increase, private foster care agencies are seeing fewer county referrals of children with mental health or behavioral issues.

The reduction in foster kids referred to one agency, Girls and Boys Town, was so severe that it recently closed down a shelter home for lack of need, said Tom Waite, the chief operating officer of the agency.

"I think there is some referral problem because there is no reason for empty beds for children in the county," Waite said.

At least four agencies reported decreases in the number of children that they have received from the county. Each of the four specializes in providing care for foster children who may need medications or have behavioral problems such as bed-wetting.

The decrease in referrals appears to be counterintuitive: How can the number of children being sent to these foster care agencies be decreasing while the number of children going into the system continues to increase?

The number of kids needing shelter foster care -- short-term care, generally in the county's Child Haven facility, while awaiting placement in private homes -- has doubled in the last two years, from 124 in October 2003 to 253 in October 2005, said Susan Klein-Rothschild, the county's director of family services.

There are about 2,250 children overall in foster care in Clark County.

One effect of the drop in referrals is an increase in beds available at several private shelters. These beds, agencies said, are available despite a general need for foster shelter care bedspace.

When the county removes children from a parent's custody, they are first placed in an emergency shelter such as Child Haven. From there, the county attempts to find a placement, either by returning the children to the parents, if appropriate, finding relatives to take them or placing them in foster care.

The general population of children needing foster care placements would not be appropriate for private agencies with open beds because those agencies, by mandate, house youths with behavioral problems, Klein-Rothschild said.

"We need to find the right homes to match the children," she said.

At least 60 percent of the children in need of foster care placements are 5 years old or younger. Some agencies, such as St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City, which this week had 14 open beds, only takes children between 16 and 21, she said.

While the number of children needing placements is in the hundreds, those with behavioral or mental health issues who would be placed in private foster care homes is not nearly as high.

Currently, there are fewer than 20 children in foster care who need to be placed in a foster care home such as Girls and Boys Town, she said.

Girls and Boys Town has five group homes that can house about six children each, but now operates only four after one closed down at the end of summer because there were not enough children to fill it.

The agency has contracted with the county since 1990 to care for kids, and this is the first time in 15 years that there were not children on the waiting list, Waite said.

The Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youths (Safy), reported that in the past month it began to experience a slight increase after facing a 25 percent decrease in referrals, said Pam Kurcz, the state director for the agency.

About 15 of Safy's 70 beds in various group homes currently are available.

Kurcz attributes the large decline in referrals to changes in Medicare and Medicaid payments for children with mental health issues as well as basic system changes within the foster care system in Nevada, such as the goal of keeping siblings together, which can complicate placements.

Another agency, Trinity Children and Family Services, started experiencing a reduction in the number of children with mental health issues the county referred to the agency about a month ago, said Marsha Russello, a behavior management specialist with the agency.

Trinity, with 40 beds, now has seven open beds because of the lack of referrals, Russello said.

"There are a lot of children in need of space and no one is getting referrals," she said.

David Kihara can be reached at 259-2330 or at [email protected]

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