TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new study from a Texas think tank has found Florida ranks in the top half of the 50 states in some areas of foster care, such as finding forever families quickly and not shuffling children from one home to another.
But the report also suggests too many children are being kept in dorms instead of having their own bedroom.
The Right for Kids Ranking judges state foster care programs on seven criteria, ranging from funding to the number of children in care.
“Many of those data points are quite frankly related to inputs -- things like caseloads, funding levels and foster parent recruitment levels,” said Andrew Brown, with the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
But it also a tale of two foster care systems.
Florida is 32nd nationally in finding safe, permanent homes.
“There are instances and there are parts of Florida that are struggling,” said Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Chad Poppell.
Poppell said part of the state’s problem is that there is no relationship between caseloads and funding.
“There’s no lever to pull to say, ‘Oh, my goodness, the number of children is up 30% -- you need more money.’ That’s not how it works today,” Poppell said. “That’s the way we’d like to make it work.”
Legislation filed by the incoming Senate president would change the funding formula. It also would extend the timeline from investigating child abuse reports from 24 to 72 hours.
The study found Florida ranks 43rd nationally when it comes to finding bedrooms over dorm rooms. Advocates said they believe it’s because the state has a “no eject, no reject” policy.
"That means if we do not have enough placements, we still take them anyhow. We have to find them. We have to find places to put children,” said Kurt Kelly, with the Florida Coalition for Children.
Not having enough foster placements has led some community-based care agencies to drive children around or house them in office buildings when no beds are available.
DCF has asked for $100 million more over the next four years. The money would be used to hire more people and upgrade technology.