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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Foster care shortage at critical level

SAINT LOUIS COUNTY

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 7/2/15

REGIONAL— A worsening shortage of foster care slots in St. Louis County has reached crisis proportions, according to county social workers, and has forced child protection officials to care for …

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Foster care shortage at critical level

SAINT LOUIS COUNTY

Posted

REGIONAL— A worsening shortage of foster care slots in St. Louis County has reached crisis proportions, according to county social workers, and has forced child protection officials to care for children themselves in county offices at least twice in the past ten days.

Workers on the front lines say it’s a problem that’s been building for some time, both as a result of a steady rise in out-of-home placements as well as reimbursements that have fallen well behind the cost of providing care for these often-needy young people.

St. Louis County currently has nearly 700 children in out-of-home placement. These are kids who the courts or law enforcement, typically with the recommendation of social workers, have removed from dangerous, abusive, or neglectful home situations. Once removed, it’s the county that’s charged with ensuring their safe placement in alternative settings. Those can range from the homes of friends or relatives to a foster home, to a crisis shelter in an emergency.

Dennis Frazier, a longtime child protection worker in St. Louis County, said he looks for relatives as the first and best option when a child needs protection from a troubled home environment. “If they can provide safe care, that’s where we go,” he said.

But not every troubled family has relatives who are both willing and able to care for children. That leaves foster care as the next best option, but the county has struggled in recent years to recruit potential foster families, according to Ann Busche, director of St. Louis County Social Services. That fact, combined with the 25 percent increase in the number of children in need of protection in the county since 2011, has created the problem. County officials note that they’re not alone in facing a foster care shortage. “It’s a problem around the state,” said Holly Church, St. Louis County’s division director for children and family services. “Foster care resources are very stretched,” she said.

So stretched, according to county social workers, that Social Services officials have enlisted case workers to care for young people themselves in emergency situations.

That was the situation in the early hours of June 19, when law enforcement contacted Social Services’ after-hours number at about 1 a.m., asking them to pick up five children from a Duluth area home where police found an unsafe situation.

“Our social workers responded,” said Busche. “They took custody of the children and brought them to a hospital.” By the time the hospital cleared the children, Busche said it was three in the morning and emergency shelters across the region were full.

“So they were faced with a choice, keep them in the car, or bring them to the office and provide them some food and a place to sit and relax after a traumatic experience. That was the decision that was made,” Busche said.

According to Busche, additional staff came in early to assist and the children were successfully placed later that day.

Days later, two more young people spent the night in county offices under similar circumstances, according to social workers who spoke to the Timberjay.

Social workers say the situation comes as no surprise. About a month ago, Social Services supervisors circulated a sign-up list to all children and family services employees, asking any who were willing to provide emergency care as a last resort to sign up. “The sign-up was strictly voluntary,” said Busche.

The plan called for housing children overnight in conference rooms on the fifth floor of the county’s government services center in Duluth. The plan also called for the purchase of sleeping mats and sleeping bags, which are now in the process of being purchased, according to Busche.

While county supervisors made it clear that taking on the extra duties was strictly voluntary, some social workers and their union representatives say they’re not happy that caseworkers are being asked to provide direct care themselves.

Judy Wahlberg, president of the AFSCME Council 5, said she’s concerned both for the safety of the children as well their union employees. “You can’t believe how upset I was to hear about this,” said Wahlberg. “These workers aren’t licensed to take care of kids in this way and they’re putting themselves at risk,” she said.

“It’s not in our job descriptions to place hands on kids,” said Frazier, who has filed a grievance over the change in duties.

While the problem is most acute in Duluth right now, Frazier said it’s a county-wide crisis. “We’ve got the same thing on the Range,” he said. “There’s just no place to put kids.”

Rates an issue, even as costs spiral

County spending on out-of-home placement has been increasing along with the number of children involved. Over the past ten years, the county’s out-of-home placement costs have doubled, from $6.5 million in 2005 to an expected $13 million this year. Approximately 94 percent of those costs are paid for with county levy dollars, so the growing cost is falling mostly on local property taxpayers.

Yet social workers say more money is going to be needed before the county will be able to recruit more foster parents.

While social service officials agree that most foster families aren’t motivated by money, those who work directly with the families say the current rate structure, established by the state, asks too much of most foster parents, especially for those families where both parents must work. While a handful of counties in Minnesota reimburse foster parents who work for a portion of their additional day care expenses, St. Louis County is not one of them.

Social workers say that the current basic foster care rate of $18.58 a day for a young child barely covers the cost of even part-time day care, much less all of the other expenses of caring for a child. “A lot of foster parents have to back out because they’re going too far backwards financially,” said one St. Louis County social worker.

While the Minnesota Department of Human Services established new rates in January, in some cases the rates are lower than before. The new schedule reduced the daily rate for caring for a child aged 0-5 from the previous $21.69 to $18.58. At the same time, the rate for children age 6-12 increased to $22.03 per day.

Even so, one St. Louis County social worker noted that most kennels in St. Louis County charge at least $25 a day to board a dog. “That’s more than we pay foster parents to care for a child,” he said.

In fact, the rates that foster parents receive varies significantly, said Busche, depending on the level of need of a particular child. Payments range from $550 a month for basic care, to as much as $2,000 a month for a child with very high needs. Busche said, on average, most foster parents receive about $100 to $200 a month above the base rate. Foster parents also receive a modest clothing allowance for children in most cases.

While county officials have to balance act between the fiscal realities of county budgeting and the need to protect kids, Busche said the safety of children comes first. “I think the county board is very, very committed to protecting children from abuse and neglect. They don’t see this as a financial issue.”

Frazier said he’s not so sure. “The board has tried to do some things on the cheap,” he said. “Now the chickens have come home to roost.”

Want to be a foster parent?

It’s a tough job, but it can be incredibly satisfying and you do qualify for some types of assistance to help cover the cost. If you have a place in your heart and your home, contact St. Louis County Social Services at childfostercare@stlouiscountymn.gov or call 218-471-7793. Information is also available on the St. Louis County website at www.stlouiscountymn.gov.